Cheap grace

IN EXILE
By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
There’s a tension among Christians today between those who would extend God’s mercy everywhere, seemingly without any conditions, and those who are more reticent and discriminating in dispensing it. The tension comes out most clearly in our debates concerning who may receive the sacraments: Who should be allowed to receive the Eucharist? Who should be allowed to marry inside a church? Who should be allowed a Christian burial? When should a priest withhold absolution in confession?

However, this tension is about a lot more than who should be allowed to receive certain sacraments. Ultimately, it’s about how we understand God’s grace and mercy. A clear example of this today is the growing opposition we see in some sectors to the person and approach of Pope Francis. To his critics, Francis is soft and compromising. To them, he is dispensing cheap grace, making God and His mercy as accessible as the nearest water tap. God’s embrace to all. No conditions asked. No prior repentance called for. No demand that there first be a change in the person’s life. Grace for all. No cost.

What’s to be said about this? If we dispense God’s grace and mercy so indiscriminately doesn’t this strip Christianity of much of its salt and leaven? May we simply embrace and bless everyone without any moral conditions? Isn’t the Gospel meant to confront?

Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI

Well, the very phrase cheap grace is an oxymoron. There’s no such a thing as cheap grace. All grace, by definition, is unmerited just as all grace, by definition, doesn’t ask for certain preconditions to be met in order for it to be offered and received. The very essence of grace is that it is a gift, free, undeserved. And, though by its very nature grace often does evoke a response of love and a change of heart, it does not of itself demand them.

There’s no more powerful example of this than Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son and how it illustrates how grace meets waywardness. We know the story. The prodigal son abandons and rejects his father, takes his unearned inheritance, goes off to a foreign land (a place away from his father) and squanders the money in the pursuit of pleasure. When he has wasted everything, he decides to return to his father, not because he suddenly has a renewed love for him, but, selfish still, because he is hungry. And we know what happens. When he is still a long way from his father’s house, his father (no doubt longing for his return) runs out to meet him and, before his son even has an opportunity to apologize, embraces him unconditionally, takes him back into his house and prepares a special celebration for him. Talk about cheap grace!

Notice to whom this parable was spoken. It was addressed to a group of sincere religious persons who were upset precisely because they felt that by embracing and eating with sinners (without first demanding some moral preconditions) Jesus was cheapening grace, making God’s love and mercy too accessible, hence less precious. Notice as well the reaction of many of Jesus’ contemporaries when they saw him dining with sinners. For example, when he dined with Zacchaeus, the tax collector, the Gospels tell us, “All who saw it began to grumble.” Interesting how that discontent persists.

Why? Why this anxiety? What undergirds our “grumbling?” Concern for true religion? Not really. The deeper root of this anxiety is not religious but grounded rather in our nature and in our wounds. Our resistance to naked gift, to raw gratuity, to unconditional love, undeserved grace, stems rather from something inside our instinctual DNA that is hardened by our wounds. A combination of nature and wound imprints in us the belief that any gift, not least love and forgiveness, needs to be merited. In this life, no free meal! In religion, no free grace! A conspiracy between our nature and our wounds keeps forever reminding us that we are unlovable, and that love must be merited; it cannot be free because we are unworthy.

Overcoming that inner voice that is perpetually reminding us that we are unlovable is, I believe, the ultimate struggle (psychological and spiritual) in our lives. Moreover, don’t be fooled by protests to the contrary. People who glibly radiate how lovable they are and make protests to that effect are mostly trying to keep that fear at bay.

St. Paul wrote his Epistle to the Romans as his dying message. He devotes its first seven chapters to simply affirming over and over again that we cannot get our lives right. We are morally incapable. However, his repeated emphasis that we cannot get our lives right is really a set-up for what he really wants to leave with us, namely, we don’t have to get our lives right. We are loved in spite of our sin, and we are given everything freely, gratuitously, irrespective of any merit on our part.

Our uneasiness with unmerited grace is rooted more in a human insecurity than in any genuine religious concern.

(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser is a theologian, teacher and award-winning author. He can be contacted through his website www.ronrolheiser.com.)

New days of ordinary time

ON ORDINARY TIMES
By Lucia A. Silecchia

June 24, 2022. In the life of a nation – as in the life of each person – days come to face past failings and take steps to correct them. That always begins with an honest admission of prior error.

When the Supreme Court did just this in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, my first reaction was not, and could not be, unfettered joy. Of necessity, reversal of Roe v. Wade, brings to mind the over sixty million unique, irreplaceable lives lost in the United States alone since Roe was decided nearly half a century ago. Moreover, contrary to furious public discourse, Dobbs does not end abortion in America. Rather, it returns the question to individual states. It is incongruous to me that whether someone’s very life is legally protected is now a function of where his or her mother happens to be. When abortion supporters proclaim that fundamental rights should not depend on the state in which someone is located, I agree with them entirely – except, of course, that we differ on which fundamental right and whose fundamental right is at issue.

Lucia A. Silecchia

I hope for the day, not yet here, when the law of our land offers a shield to protect the lives of those in the wombs of their mothers.
Yet, I still found myself grateful on June 24. Although Dobbs does not provide a shield to protect innocent human life, after 49 years the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution can no longer be used as a sword to strike efforts to defend that life. For that, I am grateful.
I am grateful as a lawyer pained to see the enormous power of law used to deny the humanity of my youngest sisters and brothers.
I am grateful as a woman who knows well that the adult that I am has grown entirely uninterrupted from the vulnerable single cell I once was.

I am grateful as an American who cheers any step – large or small – that sees the law of the republic that I love become more protective of those least able to defend themselves.

I am also grateful for the fortuitous date, June 24, on which we will remember this landmark. In important matters, I believe there are no coincidences. There is something about June 24 that speaks to the two ways in which we might best shape the post-Roe world with which we are now entrusted.

Due to a quirk in the 2022 liturgical calendar, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus fell on June 24. The heart was made for love. As I watch the explosive reaction to Dobbs, see the crude, vulgar signs carried through city streets and sense the deep fear and profound anger that rages, I am reminded by this feast day that the first response to the times in which we find ourselves must be radical love.

This love, in a post-Dobbs world, should be tangible. This is the time for renewing material, emotional and spiritual help to mothers in need; lending a hand to those caring for infants; supporting mothers in their workplaces, schools, universities and homes; adopting children with open arms and giving hearts; consoling mothers who grieve in the aftermath of abortions; reminding men of their obligations to their children and the women who carry them; caring for those in the midst of difficult pregnancies; comforting those facing frightening pre-natal diagnoses; and engaging abortion advocates with the peaceful confidence that comes only from a wellspring of deep-seated love.

The pro-life advocates I greatly admire pursue the defense of life with great, gracious love. This love – which I have seen in action – belies angry accusations that those who are pro-life care only for children before they are delivered into the world. This love has deep roots planted not in the shallow soil of politics but the deep soil of loving hearts.

The days and years ahead will need this great response of love. We now have a less fettered opportunity and sacred responsibility to find loving ways to welcome new life, cherish that life through all its stages, and support women who carry that life within them – often in difficult, lonely situations that demand great self-sacrifice.

Usually, however, June 24 is the Solemnity of the Nativity of John the Baptist. So, it will be in the years ahead when we mark the Dobbs anniversary. This suggests the second crucial part of a response to Dobbs.

John the Baptist was a prophet, proclaiming both the need to turn away from wrong and the promise of something greater to come. He died for his courageous witness but was undeterred. As battles for life itself are waged now in statehouses across the land, at medical facilities, and across dining room tables, we need prophets who continue to speak with conviction about the dignity of human life at all stages and in every condition. We need prophets who confront attacks on life wherever they are found and have the courage to defend it.

We need prophets who use their gifts to build a culture of life, advocate for just laws, and prevent innocent life from being discarded in a “throwaway culture.”

We need prophets who challenge us to reform our adoption and foster care systems, improve pre- and post-natal physical and mental health care for mothers and their children, and encourage all that can be done to improve the safety of pregnancy and delivery. We need prophets who demand that women be treated with equal dignity and that those who violate or assault them be brought to justice.

We need prophets who speak about the sacredness of sex, the obligations of men, and the dignity of those born with disabilities. We need prophets who remind us of all that a woman with a child can do and can be. We need prophets who proclaim the promise of something better than the violence of abortion.

Dobbs is but one step forward. It was, undeniably, an important one, but a far from final one. A better future now lies in the hands of all who have the strength to be loving prophets in these new days of ordinary times.

Lucia A. Silecchia is a Professor of Law at the Catholic University of America. “On Ordinary Times” is a biweekly column reflecting on the ways to find the sacred in the simple. Email her at silecchia@cua.edu.

Catching God at the ballfield

FAITH AT HOME
By Laura Kelly Fanucci (CNS)
As a mother of five boys, I have spent countless nights at baseball fields, but never have I glimpsed God in the dugout until tonight.

Can I confess that I was bored by my own son’s game – bored only because his team was winning and he’d finished pitching, so my attention wandered for a moment, long enough to catch a shout I’d never heard from the sidelines on the next field.

“I love you! I’m so proud of you! You’re doing it!”

What shocked me was that such enthusiasm came not from a fellow parent in the bleachers, but a coach hanging on the backstop.

Laura Kelly Fanucci writes the “Faith at Home” column for Catholic News Service. (CNS photo/courtesy Laura Kelly Fanucci)

“I love you!” he called again through the chain-link fence, this time to another player stepping up to the plate. “I see you! I’m here for you!”
The dad sitting next to me heard it too. He turned around, startled by the strangeness. Youth sports is now the thorny terrain of adult tantrums and parental outbursts – not often pure outpourings of love or grace.

But grace it was, ball cap slung backward, sunglasses shading the setting sun, thick arms hanging on the backstop, enthusiasm pouring on every 8-year-old like it was Game 7 of the World Series.

Cynic that I am regarding youth sports, I figured the first inning cheers would fade from heat and exhaustion (if not defeat) as the game went on. Instead surged the opposite.

In inning two, the coach hollered to a kid who got tagged out at second, “That was hard! But I’m proud of you. You did a hard thing!”

In inning three, he confirmed an ump’s tough call and shouted to his team’s opponent on first base, “That was a great hit! Way to go.”

In inning four, he lined up his players by batting order on the bench and ran down the row, high-fiving each one, then reeled around and yelled, “No, that’s not done; I’m coming back!” and ran right back down the line of stretched-out hands, every kid erupting in laughter.

“Now you need to be there for each other,” he cheered. “Be the team we need to be!”

Here’s the best part: I couldn’t tell which player was his child. It must have been one of them; a father’s love had surely brought him there; this truth was clear as the bright blue sky on that warm summer night.
But his child could have been any player on the team – or all of them at once, so wide and embracing was his enthusiasm.

Often we picture God like an umpire: crouching down whenever we step up to the plate, waiting to call strikes and outs, watching for the least infraction. But ours is a God of justice and mercy. Not simply the judge with the rulebook and the last word, but also love incarnate, calling each of us by name, rejoicing in all we can be.

The word “enthusiasm” means to be inhabited by God, the delightful indwelling when divine love and joy spark to life within us, electric with possibility. I saw enthusiasm personified on the ballfield tonight, and it was contagious.

The dad next to me let out a low whistle of admiration. “Wish I’d had a coach like that when I was a kid.” The grandparents to my left nodded too. “We need more of that these days.”

“Christ plays in ten thousand places,” wrote the Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins. He might never have meant the Little League dugout, but I caught a glimpse of God tonight on the sidelines and I will not soon forget such rare and unceasing joy.

(Fanucci is a writer, speaker and author of several books, including “Everyday Sacrament: The Messy Grace of Parenting.” Her work can be found at laurakellyfanucci.com.)

“My Lord and my God” – A review of Untimely Christianity

BOOK REVIEW
By James Tomek, Ph.D
“Untimely Christianity: Hearing the Bible in a Secular Age” by Michael Edwards. Fortress Press (Minneapolis, 2022) 174 pp. $28.00.

“My Lord and my God.”

I was taught to say these words at my First Holy Communion Mass at the Consecration. When the priest raised the Host consecrating it as the Body of Christ, we were to respond silently “My Lord and My God”– the words of our doubting Thomas when Jesus revealed to him the truth of his Resurrection. Biblical scholar and poet Sir Michael Edwards, in Untimely Christianity, translated by John Dunaway, professor of Comparative Literature, praises Thomas’s response as the greatest expression of Faith in Jesus Christ as God in Scripture. (11)

James Tomek, Ph.D

Let’s explore this Faith, hopefully giving some insight in how to read the Bible with Jesus as our guide. Father Kent Bowlds, in Cleveland, is starting a Wednesday scripture study (call (662) 588-2956). I hope these thoughts will inspire us to join.

Knowing Faith for Us Doubting Thomases: An Ars Poetica for Bible Reading
It is “faith above all with all the rest being vague reassurance.” (40)

Translator John Dunaway, himself, a specialist in French literature, tells us that this is an ironic play on words from a Paul Verlaine poem Art poétique.
An ars poetica (Latin) is usually a “direction” on how to compose a work of art – a poem. Here, Verlaine prefers a music feel, letting the reader focus on an adventure of a major human experience. “All the rest is literature” – the curtain line – means all the rest, other than poetry, is just superficiality. Untimely Christianity is an ars poetica on reading and hearing the “Word of God,” redefining our Christianity by treating the Bible as the sacrament of Jesus. Rather than looking for dogma, we follow Jesus as a major poet or artist of God’s “Word” and how his lived incarnate life can be ours. For “knowing” Jesus, the verb connaître may fit better. Savoir is about knowing facts (I know that …). Connaître is more an “acquainted with” or “feel” type of knowledge. Edwards puts “faith” into a connaître type of knowing – more with a feel than a proof – more associated with Verlaine’s music rather than a theologian’s prose essay. A synonym of this “faith” is the grace that God gives us. (31) Doubt is helpful. It is the oxygen needed to get to the way of truth. (40) Jesus helps us doubting Thomases.

Poetry vs Prose – Knowing the Right Time

This is the book cover of “Untimely Christianity: Hearing the Bible in a Secular Age” by Michael Edwards. The book is reviewed by Jim Tomek. (Photo courtesy of Fortress Press)

Art, or poetry, is a tactic where we can bring Hope into our Faith by creating new spaces. (92-3) The new words that we bring into poetic representation can point us in the right social justice directions. With these “transfigural” visions, we must go back down the mountain to help. Dunaway translates Edwards’ title, Pour un christianisme intempestif: savoir entendre la Bible, to Untimely Christianity: Hearing the Bible in a Secular Age. “Untimely” here means that true Christianity is out of step with profit driven societies of Western Culture. Can “eternal,” meaning outside of time, be a substitute for “untimely”? We live in a prosaic linear time, getting things done Monday-Friday, but there is a more important poetic time where we stay on a vertical line pondering our existence. The Beatitudes sound vertical over the linear legalistic defined Commandments.

A major chapter on joy has Shakespeare’s Tempest as a background. A tempest is a major windstorm that gives the characters time to think. (41-5) Tempest has “temps” in it – meaning time and weather. All these words play on the title intempestif. A tempestuous, timely, untimely time to temper our thoughts while listening to the Bible, inspired by the Holy Spirit – the windstorm Trinity advocate.

Transfiguring Jesus as Poet and Teacher of His Prayer

With the Transfiguration, “eternity” changes Jesus into himself. (9-10) Dunaway notes that this is a citation of a Mallarmé poem “The Tomb of Edgar Poe,” where we hear that Poe’s works have stood up against blasphemies (accusations that his inspiration was from drugs). Time, “untimely” during his life, has helped us see his poetic transfiguration. Jesus, also, will be transfigured as my God. Jesus is a poet teaching us how to pray. Poetry requires a more sustained attention between poet and reader. (69) Between the poet and reader, we don’t really have one poet. There is another speaking that Edwards describes as the voice of the Holy Spirit. (69) A ghost writer? The “Our Father” transforms everything from the Fall of Humankind to the end of evil. (70) Word will become flesh. There is no “I” in Jesus’s teaching here. We need to be impersonal – to leave our egos, avoid temptation and help others. (73)

Jesus: Translator of God’s Transcendence

Since translation is such a major component of Scripture, we have to add it to the art of reading the Bible. The effective translator is also a writer, who, guided by love, helps us interpret meanings. Roland Barthes distinguishes between a readerly text, where one reads for information, and a writerly text (Bible included here) where the reader is active. (107) When reading or watching a thought-provoking-film, I always take notes and add my thoughts, which keeps me in the right disposition to interpret honestly.

Inspiration: Joy and the Transfiguration of Suffering
Edwards remarks that inspiration, theoretically and timewise, can only come from the early Hebrew and Greek texts. How then can we discern if a passage is from the Holy Spirit? “Delectation” is a word suggested by our “two translators.” In experiencing the Paschal Mystery of Death and Resurrection, Joy has to be mingled with sadness. We need to hear with our hearts. (157) Why do I prefer Good Friday to Easter? I should not, but it is while listening to Isaiah’s suffering servant and the Passion of Christ, followed by pondering the Cross that I enter in Communion with all my loved ones who have loved me when it was inconvenient to do so.

Faith above the law (without good works) is an idea of the Devil – not St. Paul. (25) We need to feel our way to God. (157) Doing the law does not necessarily mean knowing just the words. “You would not be seeking me if you had not found me.” (156) We are advised to hear with our hearts and to act as one cannot! (165) – acting as a responsible human for others and not self-seeking animals. God, through Pascal, puts these words in a convert’s mouth. “You would not be seeking me if you had not found me.” (156)

Joyful Rehearsal of our Mission at Mass
The word “joy” jumps across the Bible. It can mean charis that can mean both grace and thankfulness. There is a reflexive relation of Jesus and all us faithful as Jesus gives us grace to be good while we thank Jesus for this gift. (52) The Eucharist, or Mass, is the more definitive place where we carry on this thanking and then transfer our prayers to the real world. Michael Edwards and John Dunaway’s concept of God may be a little too “immanent” (near?) for me to relate to. However, the exposition of Jesus as the Sacrament of God allows me to be very comfortable and repentant at Mass. When asking for mercy and what to do, I pray these words, “My Lord and my God.”

(James Tomek is a retired language and literature professor at Delta State University who is currently a Lay Ecclesial Minister at Sacred Heart in Rosedale and also active in RCIA at Our Lady of Victories in Cleveland.)

IHM Greenwood statue returns home for feast day

GREENWOOD – The Mary statue that was severly damaged in January by a vandal is now restored and is back in her proper place at Immaculate Heart of Mary parish.

FROM THE ARCHIVES
By Mary Woodward

JACKSON – Some of you may recall the sad story of Greenwood Immaculate Heart of Mary Church being vandalized back in late January. During that unfortunate incident, the 100-year-old statue of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was damaged severely.

I chronicled this in an article about the statue’s journey to Jackson with me to be delivered to local artist and restorer, Eyd Kazery. Eyd and I both were hopeful he could use his artistry to replace the shattered face of the plaster-based image, but we both had a tinge of doubt as to the success of this endeavor.

Parishioners had expressed that they would rather have this image back patched together than replace it with a new one. Making it clear to them this process would take a long time, I was surprised to receive a call from Eyd in late May asking me to come see his progress. When I arrived at his workshop in rural Hinds County, I could not believe my eyes.

Eyd had completely restored the face that had been in pieces on the floor of the church when she was found. He also had repaired the deep stress cracks across the midsection of the bodice. It was no less than a miracle.

JACKSON – Eyd Kazery attends to the statue he so carefully restored before she made the return trip to Immaculate Heart of Mary parish in Greenwood with Chancellor Mary Woodward. (Photos courtesy of archives)

Eyd relayed to me how he had worked until late at night off and on for the past several months; and in the past two weeks he had worked every night. He had become entranced by his quest and stirred by the Blessed Mother.

Looking at his work, I could feel that same influence emanating from the image. As we stood there in the workshop in the summer heat, a heavenly warmth counteracted the sauna atmosphere in the workshop. We deliberated over the best way to return her to her Greenwood home. I contacted the parish mid-June and eventually we decided I would drive her back up to Greenwood to complete the circle of my journey with her.

On Friday, June 24, the Feast of the Sacred Heart, I headed back down to the workshop with most every blanket and quilt from my house, plus several stadium cushions representing two SEC Universities, two travel neck pillows and one cat bed offered by my 22-year-old Bella the Miracle Katrina Cat. The cat bed served as a lovely cushion for the Blessed Mother’s detachable hands.

Eyd and I carefully placed her on the pallet and secured her with the cushions of two college world series champions and a neck pillow beneath her restored head. After some parting photos with the restoring artist/miracle worker and his opus, the Blessed Mother and I set out for the Delta to complete our circle.
The drive to Greenwood is not a difficult one, in fact it is rather enjoyable. It is one of the entryways to the Delta, one of my favorite places on earth. The soul of America seems to resonate from the soil there.

As I pulled up to the back of IHM Church and opened the tailgate, out came Jerome Little and Sam Abraham, who had been inside preparing the pedestal for the statue’s return. Soon we were joined by Phil Ellis, who had happened to come by to check on church flower beds. They gently carried her up the ramp and into the church.

The pedestal built by Justin Nicholson wasn’t quite finished, so there were many photo opportunities beside the statue as she stood happily on the floor back in the sanctuary. It was a joy to see their exuberance in having the beloved image home.

After dropping her off, I headed a few blocks down to my oasis in the Delta and checked in for a quiet evening away from the thoughts of chancellor projects. At dinner, I paired a glass of Basil Hayden’s with a nice steak as a reward for finishing several weeks of intense coursework in records and information management, plus several other brain-taxing projects.

As I mulled over the day, it suddenly dawned on me that the beloved image had returned home just in time for her feast day the next morning. as the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary follows the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson.)

Nuevos Días del Tiempo Ordinario

Por Lucía A. Silecchia

En la vida de una nación -como en la vida de cada persona- llegan días para enfrentar las fallas del pasado y tomar medidas para corregirlas. Eso siempre comienza con una admisión honesta de un error previo.

Cuando la Corte Suprema hizo exactamente esto en Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, mi primera reacción no fue, y no podía ser, alegría sin límites.

Necesariamente, la reversión de Roe v. Wade trae a la mente las más de sesenta millones de vidas únicas e irremplazables perdidas en los Estados Unidos solamente desde que se decidió Roe hace casi medio siglo. Además, contrariamente al furioso discurso público, Dobbs no pone fin al aborto en Estados Unidos. Más bien, devuelve la pregunta a los estados individuales. Me resulta incongruente que la protección legal de la vida de una persona dependa ahora de dónde se encuentre su madre.

Lucia A. Silecchia

Cuando los partidarios del aborto proclaman que los derechos fundamentales no deberían depender del estado en el que se encuentra alguien, estoy completamente de acuerdo con ellos, excepto, por supuesto, que discrepamos sobre qué derecho fundamental y de quién está en juego. Espero el día, aún no aquí, en que la ley de nuestra tierra ofrezca un escudo para proteger la vida de quienes están en el vientre de sus madres.

Sin embargo, todavía me encontraba agradecido el 24 de junio. Aunque Dobbs no brinda un escudo para proteger la vida humana inocente, después de 49 años, la Corte Suprema dictaminó que la Constitución ya no puede usarse como una espada para atacar los esfuerzos por defender esa vida. Por eso, estoy agradecido. Agradezco como un abogado dolido al ver el enorme poder de la ley utilizado para negar la humanidad de mis hermanas y hermanos más jóvenes.

Estoy agradecida como una mujer que sabe bien que la adulta que soy ha crecido completamente sin interrupciones desde la vulnerable célula individual que una vez fui. Estoy agradecido como un estadounidense que celebra cualquier paso, grande o pequeño, que hace que la ley de la república que amo se vuelva más protectora de los menos capaces de defenderse.

Agradezco también la fecha fortuita, el 24 de junio, en que recordaremos este hito. En asuntos importantes, creo que no hay coincidencias. Hay algo sobre el 24 de junio que habla de las dos formas en que podemos dar forma al mundo posterior a Roe que ahora se nos ha confiado.

Debido a una peculiaridad en el calendario litúrgico de 2022, la Solemnidad del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús cayó el 24 de junio. El corazón fue hecho para el amor. Mientras observo la reacción explosiva a Dobbs, veo los carteles crudos y vulgares llevados por las calles de la ciudad, y siento el miedo y la ira profundos que se desata, este día de fiesta me recuerda que la primera respuesta a los tiempos en que nos encontramos debe ser un amor radical.

Este amor, en un mundo post-Dobbs, debería ser tangible. Este es el tiempo de renovar la ayuda material, afectiva y espiritual a las madres necesitadas; echar una mano a los que cuidan a los niños; apoyar a las madres en sus lugares de trabajo, escuelas, universidades y hogares; adoptar niños con los brazos abiertos y el corazón generoso; consolar a las madres que sufren las secuelas de los abortos; recordar a los hombres sus obligaciones para con sus hijos y las mujeres que los llevan; cuidar a las que se encuentran en medio de embarazos difíciles; consolar a quienes enfrentan diagnósticos prenatales aterradores e involucrar a los defensores del aborto con la confianza pacífica que proviene solo de una fuente de amor profundamente arraigado.

Los defensores de la vida que admiro mucho persiguen la defensa de la vida con gran amor lleno de gracia. Este amor, que he visto en acción, desmiente las airadas acusaciones de que aquellos que están a favor de la vida solo se preocupan por los niños antes de que sean entregados al mundo. Este amor tiene raíces profundas plantadas no en la tierra poco profunda de la política sino en la tierra profunda de los corazones amorosos.

Los días y años venideros necesitarán esta gran respuesta de amor. Ahora tenemos una oportunidad menos trabada y una responsabilidad sagrada de encontrar formas amorosas de dar la bienvenida a una nueva vida, apreciar esa vida en todas sus etapas y apoyar a las mujeres que llevan esa vida dentro de sí, a menudo en situaciones difíciles y solitarias que exigen un gran sacrificio personal.

Por lo general, sin embargo, el 24 de junio es la Solemnidad de la Natividad de Juan el Bautista. Así será en los próximos años cuando conmemoremos el aniversario de Dobbs. Esto sugiere la segunda parte crucial de una respuesta a Dobbs.

Juan el Bautista fue un profeta que proclamó tanto la necesidad de alejarse del mal como la promesa de algo más grande por venir. Murió por su valiente testimonio, pero no se dejó intimidar. Mientras las batallas por la vida misma se libran ahora en los parlamentos de todo el país, en las instalaciones médicas y en las mesas de los comedores, necesitamos profetas que continúen hablando con convicción sobre la dignidad de la vida humana en todas las etapas y en todas las condiciones. Necesitamos profetas que enfrenten los ataques a la vida dondequiera que se encuentren y tengan el coraje de defenderla.

Necesitamos profetas que usen sus dones para construir una cultura de la vida, abogar por leyes justas y evitar que la vida inocente sea descartada en una “cultura del descarte”.

Necesitamos profetas que nos desafíen a reformar nuestros sistemas de adopción y cuidado de crianza, mejorar la atención de la salud física y mental antes y después del parto para las madres y sus hijos, y alentar todo lo que se pueda hacer para mejorar la seguridad del embarazo y el parto. Necesitamos profetas que exijan que las mujeres sean tratadas con igual dignidad y que quienes las violen o agredan sean llevados ante la justicia.

Necesitamos profetas que hablen sobre la santidad del sexo, las obligaciones de los hombres y la dignidad de los que nacen con discapacidades. Necesitamos profetas que nos recuerden todo lo que una mujer con un hijo puede hacer y puede ser. Necesitamos profetas que proclamen la promesa de algo mejor que la violencia del aborto.

Dobbs es sólo un paso adelante. Fue, sin lugar a dudas, una importante, pero lejos de ser la final. Un futuro mejor ahora está en manos de todos los que tienen la fuerza para ser profetas amorosos en estos nuevos días de tiempos ordinarios.

(Lucia A. Silecchia es Profesora de Derecho en la Universidad Católica de América. “Sobre tiempos ordinarios” es una columna quincenal que reflexiona sobre las formas de encontrar lo sagrado en lo simple. Envíale un correo electrónico a silecchia@cua.edu)

Mujeres, Desigualdad y Feminismo

Por Padre Ron Rolheiser

Todavía hay personas en todas partes que creen que ya no hay ningún problema con respecto a la condición de la mujer. Está muy extendida la creencia de que hoy, al menos en los países democráticos, las mujeres gozan de plena igualdad con los hombres.

Además, para muchos, el feminismo es una mala palabra, políticamente cargada, que representa una ideología liberal radical cuya agenda está en desacuerdo con los valores familiares tradicionales. ¿Qué hay que decir sobre esto?

Padre Ron Rolheiser, OMI

En primer lugar, el feminismo, como el cristianismo, es un término amplio que incluye tanto expresiones sanas como estridentes. Las hay buenas feministas y las hay estridentes, como ocurre también con las cristianas. Sea como fuere, mi propósito principal aquí es sugerir que nada puede estar más lejos de la verdad que la ingenua creencia de que la igualdad de género se ha logrado, en cualquier lugar. No lo ha hecho, ni por asomo.

¿Por qué digo esto? Antes de ofrecer evidencia más sustancial, permítanme resaltar solo un ejemplo. Vivo en el Oeste, en los Estados Unidos, en América, en Texas, en San Antonio (una ciudad muy cristiana y compasiva), en una cultura democrática que se enorgullece y se cree un faro para el mundo vis-à- frente a los derechos humanos y la igualdad de la mujer.

 Sin embargo, mientras leo nuestro periódico diario, rara vez pasa una sola semana en la que no haya un informe de una mujer que muere a causa de la violencia doméstica. Además, estos son solo informes de mujeres asesinadas por una pareja doméstica; los números son sin duda astronómicamente más altos en términos de mujeres que sufren abuso físico y sexual en nuestros hogares. Tenga en cuenta que en el 90% de estos casos es la mujer la que muere.

Sin embargo, para fundamentar la afirmación de que las mujeres todavía sufren, masiva y desproporcionadamente, la desigualdad, permítanme citar una serie de comentarios de un libro reciente, Awakening, de Joan Chittister:

• “El hecho es que dos tercios de los pobres del mundo son mujeres, dos tercios de los analfabetos del mundo son mujeres y dos tercios de los hambrientos del mundo son mujeres. La opresión de la mitad de la raza humana no puede explicarse por accidente. … Las mujeres son la mayoría de los pobres, la mayoría de los refugiados, la mayoría de los sin educación, la mayoría de los golpeados y la mayoría de los rechazados del mundo”.

• “La historia de la mujer es una historia de opresión, discriminación y violencia histórica y universal. En el budismo, las mujeres que han llevado una vida de total dedicación espiritual son entrenadas para recibir órdenes del más joven de los monjes varones. En el Islam, las mujeres deben cubrirse la cabeza con un velo y cubrirse el cuerpo para expresar su indignidad y señalar el hecho de que pertenecen a algún hombre. En el hinduismo, las mujeres son abandonadas por sus maridos por actividades más elevadas y mayores dotes o se les hace responsables de su muerte en virtud del mal karma de una mujer. En la mayoría de las formas de judaísmo, a las mujeres se les niega el acceso a la educación y los rituales religiosos. En el cristianismo, hasta hace poco y en muchos sectores todavía, los derechos jurídicos de la mujer se han equiparado con los de los hijos menores; golpear a la esposa está protegido por el derecho doméstico e incluso la vida espiritual de la mujer está dictada, dirigida y controlada por los hombres de fe”.

Además, Chittister destaca una ironía que generalmente pasa desapercibida y, peor aún, a menudo se usa para camuflar nuestro fracaso en otorgarles a las mujeres el mismo estatus. Aquí está la ironía. Muchos de nosotros fomentamos, consciente o inconscientemente, una actitud que bien podría llamarse feminismo romántico en la que idealizamos y exaltamos en exceso a las mujeres y, irónica pero comprensiblemente, terminamos negándoles la plena igualdad.

Así lo expresa Chittister: “en ninguna otra clase, seguramente tiene tanta poesía, tanta música, tantas flores, tanta adulación, tanta tolerancia, tanto amor romántico y tan poco respeto moral e intelectual, espiritual y humano. sido prodigado.” En esencia, una idealización excesiva de las mujeres les dice: ¡eres tan especial y maravillosa que no deberías ser tratada de la misma manera que los hombres!

Tengo la edad suficiente para haber vivido un par de generaciones de feminismo. En las décadas de 1980 y 1990, cuando enseñaba teología en un par de universidades, el feminismo, tanto saludable como estridente, era muy fuerte dentro de la facultad y en gran parte del alumnado. Confieso que no siempre estuve a gusto con él, especialmente con su tono muchas veces militante. Sentí su legitimidad, incluso cuando temía su estridencia.

Bueno, los tiempos han cambiado. Hoy, en las aulas en las que enseño, me encuentro cada vez más con mujeres, mujeres más jóvenes, que tienen poca simpatía o uso por el feminismo de los años ochenta y noventa. Hay casi una actitud condescendiente hacia aquellas mujeres que fueron pioneras en la agenda feminista.

En parte, es algo generacional que es comprensible. En parte, sin embargo, también es una ingenuidad, una creencia infundada de que la batalla ha sido ganada, que las mujeres ahora han alcanzado la plena igualdad y que ya no hay necesidad de las batallas al viejo estilo.

Entonces, cuando leo las sombrías estadísticas de Chittister y leo sobre la violencia doméstica casi a diario en nuestros periódicos, añoro a esas luchadoras feministas que una vez conocí en las aulas y en las reuniones de profesores hace tantos años.

(El padre oblato Ron Rolheiser es teólogo, maestro y autor galardonado. Se le puede contactar a través de su sitio web www.ronrolheiser.com. Ahora en Facebook www.facebook.com/ronrolheiser)

Mississippi no tiene más una clínica de aborto

Por Joanna Puddister King

En la noche del 6 de julio, la Organización de Salud de Mujeres de Jackson cerró sus puertas por última vez, por primera vez en 49 años que el estado de Mississippi no tiene una clínica de aborto en funcionamiento. Esto se produce después que la Corte Suprema de EE. UU. revocara su decisión de casi cinco décadas en Roe v. Wade que legalizó el aborto.

La opinión de la Corte en Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization emitida el viernes 24 de junio sostuvo que la Constitución no confiere el derecho al aborto, con la autoridad devuelta a los estados para regular el aborto.

El caso de Dobbs se centró en la legislación de Mississippi que se aprobó en 2018 llamada Ley de edad gestacional, que buscaba prohibir los abortos después de las 15 semanas de gestación. La clínica de abortos de Jackson y uno de sus médicos demandaron a los funcionarios de Mississippi en un tribunal federal, alegando que la ley era inconstitucional.

La corte federal de distrito y la Corte de Apelaciones del Quinto Circuito fallaron a favor de la clínica, bloqueando la promulgación de la ley.

En mayo de 2021, la Corte Suprema de EE. UU. decidió que tomaría el caso Dobbs, lo que marca la primera vez desde Roe que se tomaría una prohibición de viabilidad previa. Se presentaron más de 140 escritos de amici curiae ante la Corte Suprema sobre el caso Dobbs, el primero de ellos de las diócesis de Jackson y Biloxi, en los que se afirma que “la iglesia tiene un interés creado en este asunto: la dignidad y la santidad de toda vida humana.”

Si bien originalmente le pidió a la Corte que escuchara los argumentos sobre una cuestión de viabilidad, si todas las prohibiciones previas a la viabilidad de los abortos electivos son inconstitucionales, Mississippi cambió de rumbo y argumentó ante la Corte Suprema el 1 de diciembre de 2021, que Roe debería anularse por completo y que la autoridad para regular el aborto sea devuelta a los estados.

Con una mayoría de 5 a 4, el juez asociado Samuel Alito escribiendo y  afirma que “sostenemos que Roe y Casey deben ser anulados. … La Constitución no hace referencia al aborto y dicho derecho no está protegido implícitamente por ninguna disposición constitucional”. La opinión de Alito reflejaba de cerca un borrador de opinión mayoritario inicial filtrado y compartido el 2 de mayo por Político.

A Alito se le unieron los jueces Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh y Amy Coney Barrett. El presidente del Tribunal Supremo, John Roberts, estuvo de acuerdo con la mayoría, pero en una opinión separada escribió que habría tomado “un curso más mesurado” al “rechazar la línea de viabilidad equivocada” de Roe y Casey, pero sin anular por completo a Roe.

La Corte Suprema tiene seis católicos en el banquillo: los jueces Alito, Kavanaugh, Thomas, Coney Barrett, Roberts y Sonja Sotomayor y esta última se unen los jueces Stephen Breyer y Elena Kagan en desacuerdo con la mayoría.

“Un resultado de la decisión de hoy es seguro la restricción de los derechos de las mujeres y de su condición de ciudadanas libres e iguales,” escribieron los jueces disidentes.

Una de las principales preocupaciones de los jueces disidentes fue el descarte del balance de viabilidad proporcionado por Roe y Casey. “Hoy, la Corte descarta ese balance. Dice que, desde el mismo momento de la fertilización, una mujer no tiene derechos de los que hablar,” escribieron los jueces, mencionando que algunos estados ya aprobaron leyes de “activación” supeditadas a que la Corte Suprema de EE. UU. revoque Roe v. Wade.

La ley de activación de Mississippi se aprobó en 2007 y solo permite el aborto si la vida de la mujer embarazada está en peligro o si el embarazo es causado por una violación denunciada a la policía. Otros doce estados también tienen leyes de activación.

El lunes 27 de junio, después que la fiscal general de Mississippi, Lynn Fitch, certificara que Roe había sido revocada, el reloj comenzó a correr en la ley de activación, que entraría en vigor el 7 de julio, 10 días después de la determinación.

Después que se publicó la decisión de Dobbs, se emitieron muchas declaraciones de celebración y algunas de indignación.

Los obispos Joseph R. Kopacz y Louis F. Kihnemann emitieron una declaración conjunta elogiando la decisión y reconociendo que queda mucho por hacer para ayudar a las madres y las familias.

“La iglesia continuará acompañando a las mujeres y parejas que enfrentan embarazos difíciles o inesperados y durante los primeros años de la paternidad, a través de iniciativas como Walking with Moms in Need”, declararon los obispos en su comunicado del 24 de junio. “Nuestras respectivas diócesis continuarán colaborando con organizaciones como Her Plan, Pro-Life Mississippi y muchas otras para brindar servicios vitales para apoyar a las madres y los no nacidos.”

El líder católico, vicegobernador de Mississippi, Delbert Hosemann, declaró que Mississippi es líder en la protección de los no nacidos con una ley vigente que prohíbe el aborto.

“Soy pro-vida”, declaró Hosemann. “Yo también soy pro-niño. Además de proteger a los no nacidos, también debemos centrarnos en otras formas de apoyar a las mujeres, los niños y las familias”.

La procuradora general de Mississippi, Lynn Fitch, quien lideró los esfuerzos para anular a Roe, también emitió una declaración después de la decisión que decía: “Ahora, nuestro trabajo para empoderar a las mujeres y promover la vida realmente comienza. La Corte ha soltado su control sobre la elaboración de políticas de aborto y se lo ha devuelto a la gente”.

La USCCB también emitió una declaración del arzobispo José H. Gómez de Los Ángeles, presidente de la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de los Estados Unidos, y del arzobispo William Lori de Baltimore, presidente del Comité de Actividades Pro-Vida de la USCCB.

“La decisión de hoy también es el fruto de las oraciones, los sacrificios y la defensa de innumerables estadounidenses comunes de todos los ámbitos de la vida. Durante estos largos años, millones de nuestros conciudadanos han trabajado juntos pacíficamente para educar y persuadir a sus vecinos sobre la injusticia del aborto, ofrecer atención y asesoramiento a las mujeres y trabajar por alternativas al aborto.”

El ambiente fuera de la Organización de Salud de Mujeres de Jackson, también conocida como la “Casa Rosada” debido al tono rosa brillante que se pintó en enero de 2013, era todo menos pacífico después de la decisión de Dobbs. Hasta que la clínica cerró definitivamente la tarde del 6 de julio, las voces pro-vida y pro-elección chocaron entre los reporteros de noticias nacionales y locales de cerca y de lejos.

Como un esfuerzo por seguir brindando servicios, la Organización de Salud de Mujeres de Jackson solicitó una orden de restricción temporal para bloquear la entrada en vigencia de la ley de activación, pero la jueza de la cancillería, Debbra K. Halford, la denegó el martes 5 de julio, argumentando que la Corte Suprema del estado revertiría el fallo Pro-Choice Mississippi v. Fordice de 1998 que se basó en la Constitución de Mississippi para el derecho a la privacidad.

Mississippi Free Press informó que la clínica presentó una petición a la Corte Suprema de Mississippi para permitir su reapertura, citando a Fordice donde la corte declaró que no “interpretó nuestra Constitución como un reconocimiento de un derecho explícito al aborto, creemos que la integridad corporal autónoma es protegida bajo el derecho a la privacidad como se establece en ‘In re-Brown’.”

A nivel nacional, el presidente Joe Biden firmó una orden ejecutiva el viernes 8 de julio con el objetivo de proteger el acceso al aborto luego de que la Corte Suprema anulara Roe. La orden intenta proteger el acceso al aborto con medicamentos, el acceso a la anticoncepción y garantizar el derecho del paciente a los servicios médicos de emergencia.

Hablando desde la Casa Blanca el 8 de julio, el presidente Biden instó a las mujeres a “ir a las urnas” para “reclamar el derecho que les quitó la corte”. Afirmó que “la forma más rápida de restaurar Roe es aprobar una ley nacional, codificando Roe.”

En respuesta, la USCCB emitió una declaración del arzobispo Lori que decía: “Le imploro al presidente que abandone este camino que conduce a la muerte y la destrucción y elija la vida. Como siempre, la Iglesia Católica está lista para trabajar con esta Administración y todos los funcionarios electos para proteger el derecho a la vida de todos los seres humanos y para garantizar que las madres embarazadas y con hijos reciban pleno apoyo en el cuidado de sus hijos antes y después del nacimiento.”

Los obispos Kopacz y Kihnemann siguen “agradecidos por la decisión de la Corte Suprema, pero también son conscientes de que la batalla para defender la santidad de la vida es un esfuerzo continuo. Oremos y sigamos elevando nuestras voces tanto en nuestras iglesias como en nuestras comunidades en defensa de la dignidad humana y la justicia.”

(Esta es una historia en desarrollo. Al momento de la publicación, la Corte Suprema de Mississippi no ha emitido una decisión sobre su fallo anterior de Fordice. Por ahora, la Clínica de Salud de Mujeres de Jackson permanece cerrada).

June Feast of Peter and Paul sparks memories of pallium trip

FROM THE ARCHIVES
By Mary Woodward

JACKSON – Traditionally, June is the month on the Roman Catholic calendar when on the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul (June 29), each newly named metropolitan archbishops is given a pallium by the Holy Father. Pallium is a Latin word that means a mantle or cloak.

Made of lamb’s wool, the pallium is a white band measuring about two- and one-half inches in width. Two equally wide bands, about 15 inches long containing small silk-covered lead pieces, extend one in front and one down the back. It is worn over the chasuble.

The pallium is decorated with six black crosses placed in the front and back, on each shoulder, and on the ends of the pieces hanging in front and back. Three pins, spinula in Latin for thorn, are placed in the crosses on the front, the back and the left shoulder.

The following historical description is taken from the Vatican’s website:
“The Liber Pontificalis (Pontifical Book) notes that Pope St. Mark (died 336) conferred the pallium on the Suburbicarian Bishop of Ostia, one of the consecrators of the Roman Pontiff. Even if we cannot be sure of the historic value of this information, at least it reflects the practice of the fifth and sixth centuries, when the Liber Pontificalis was compiled by the Roman Curia.”

“In 513, Pope Symmachus granted the privilege of the pallium to St. Caesarius of Arles and thereafter the concession of the pallium by the Pope to the bishops of Italy and outside Italy multiplied.”

“The pallium is the symbol of a special relationship with the Pope and expresses the power, that, in communion with the Church of Rome, the metropolitan acquires by right in his own jurisdiction.
According to Canon Law (canon 437), a metropolitan must request the pallium within three months of his appointment and may wear it only in the territory of his own diocese and in the other dioceses of his ecclesiastical province.”

Spiritually speaking, the pallium’s unique design represents a yoke placed on an ox. The one who takes up the yoke carries the church on his shoulders, plowing through the many challenges and yet the many joys of church life.

Archbishop Thomas Rodi is pictured wearing his pallium. The pallium is a symbol of a special relationship with the Pope. Made from wool, the pallium of the metropolitan archbishops is decorated with six black crosses. In her column “From the archives,” Mary Woodward writes about the history and meaning behind the pallium. (Photo courtesy of Archdiocese of Mobile/The Catholic Week)


Traditionally, on the feast of St. Agnes (Jan. 21), two lambs are brought from Tre Fontane, the site of St. Paul’s martyrdom, to the Basilica of St. Agnes on the Via Nomentana. After they are blessed, the sheep are presented to the Pope, then they remain in the care of the women religious who reside at the Basilica of St. Cecilia in Trastevere.

Just before Easter, these lambs are shorn and their wool is used to make the pallia for newly appointed archbishops. On the night of June 28, the pallia are placed beneath the main altar of the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome where they lie close to the tomb of the first pope.

In receiving his papal pallium when installed in 2005, Pope Benedict XVI in his homily stated: “The symbolism of the pallium is even more concrete: the lamb’s wool is meant to represent the lost, sick or weak sheep which the shepherd places on his shoulders and carries to the waters of life.”

In June 2008, I was privileged to travel to Rome with Bishop Joseph Latino and Bishop Emeritus William Houck for the conferral of the pallia on all the new archbishops of the world by Pope Benedict XVI. This included our current metropolitan, Archbishop Thomas Rodi of Mobile.

One of my main tasks was to pack and unpack cassocks according to the ceremony of the day and keep them wrinkle free. I like to joke that it was a terribly demanding job, but it was not. It truly was a blessing, especially considering I was in Rome participating in such a beautiful church tradition.
Throughout the weeklong trip, it was about 99 degrees outside and inside was only slightly less hot. There is air-conditioning in Rome hotels, but basically it is a box on the wall that makes a lot of noise and drips water on the floor.

The two bishops and I celebrated Mass in four major basilicas in Rome – Peter, Paul, John Lateran and my favorite, St. Mary Major. We managed the heat fairly well and became quite adept at hailing taxis.
The day of the Pallium Mass in St. Peter Basilica, I positioned myself along the rail so that I would be close to the procession. I do not recall how many new metropolitans were there besides ours, but I do remember as they processed out through the basilica, they all looked so serene and otherworldly in their red chasubles and newly placed pallia.

It was the look of being swept up into the heart of the triune God; to being entrenched in the 2000-year tradition of our church; and to being surrounded and bolstered by the Communion of Saints ready to bear the yoke and till the soil in God’s vineyard.

(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson)

Archbishop Thomas Rodi is pictured wearing his pallium. The pallium is a symbol of a special relationship with the Pope. Made from wool, the pallium of the metropolitan archbishops is decorated with six black crosses. In her column “From the archives,” Mary Woodward writes about the history and meaning behind the pallium. (Photo courtesy of Archdiocese of Mobile/The Catholic Week)

Saltillo Mission trip brings joyous adventure

Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz

By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
The return after three years to our Saltillo Mission was a high-spirited and joyful adventure after nearly three years since the previous visit for the 50th anniversary of the beginning of Father Patrick Quinn’s missionary work in 1969. But many of you know of this pastoral visit through the social media networks of the Diocese of Jackson and the Diocese of Biloxi. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then you have already enjoyed multiple portrayals of the whirlwind of four days. It is amazing to consider the high volume of activity that occurs in such a compact timeframe. It can be exhausting and exhilarating over every bump on the road.

Let me digress a moment to treasure the source of the spiritual bond that continues to thrive between Mississippi and Saltillo even in the absence of overland mission trips.

In our Catholic world we are in the midst of celebrating the golden triangle of exceptional Solemnities beginning with Pentecost Sunday and the culmination of the Easter season, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, and the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord.

The gift of the Holy Spirit received in faith and celebrated uniquely at Pentecost opens up a world of mystery with our God who is love, the Holy Trinity of persons who overflowed in love in the gifts of creation and salvation. The celebration of Corpus Christi continues this outpouring of love poured out on the Cross and commemorated and lived each time we gather for Mass, the holy Eucharist.

The three feasts together reveal the nature of love within the Trinity which manifests itself in Christian community, unity, communion and fraternity in the Body of Christ throughout the world bonded by one faith, one baptism, one God who is Father who is over all and in all. Thus, the joy of solidarity and unity can overflow with every liturgy, with every fiesta, with every meal and with every conversation in all parts of our world.

From this fountain of faith, hope and love, we all cherish the history of these past 53 years, the memory of Father Quinn, and all who have given of themselves, from here and over there, whether for years or for weeks.

The Sacrament of Confirmation with 80 candidates was the culminating liturgy with Bishop Hilario Gonzales Garcia, the recently installed Ordinary of the Diocese of Saltillo. It was heartening to concelebrate with him around the altar, and to spend time at table afterwards.

One year into his episcopal ministry and he already has experienced the blessings of the relationship that Jackson and Biloxi have with his diocese. He fully supports what we are doing and hopes that we will accompany one another well into the future. We all hope that the day will come when the overland mission trips are able to resume, enabling the a new generation of Mississippi Catholics to be missionary disciples, evangelizing and being evangelized by our Mexican brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Amidst the many grace-filled moments, meals and ministries from Monday to Thursday evening’s Confirmation, there were various signature events. On Tuesday we celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation two hours out at Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe in Garambullo and then bounced back to a special liturgy at San Miguel’s that honored all fathers in attendance with a special blessing as the Mariachis played and sang full throated and unsparingly.

Afterwards, a fiesta followed honoring the young people who raised the most money for their individual parish communities. Various groups of entertainers, mostly young, performed splendidly in song, dance and gesture in a religious and cultural festival. Que Buena noche!

Wednesday saw another memorable event unfold before us in amazement. In route to St. Pedro’s for the Sacrament of Confirmation we gathered at St. Joseph’s Chapel which was dedicated three years ago on the last pastoral visit. After prayer and blessings, cars and trucks were organized into a procession that grew into a ‘flotilla on the road’ to San Pedro. You have seen some of the photos, and the entire experience was as joyful as it looked. The fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit were in abundance at the Confirmation that followed.

On Thursday prior to the Confirmation Bishop Kihneman and I, along with the other pilgrims from Jackson and Biloxi, visited the tomb of Father Quinn in the Church of Perpetuo Socorro. Over the past year the back walls of the church above his tomb have been covered with the photos that provide a panorama of the events, the people and the places of the Father Quinn years. It is well done and very touching.

While I stood there in admiration, I felt so grateful to have a part in this amazing story whose chapters are still being written, and to represent the faithful of our diocese who further the mission through prayer and generosity.

Next year will mark the 25th anniversary of San Miguel, the cornerstone parish of the mission since Father Quinn’s death, and the dates are on the calendar for the September 2023 anniversary celebration. Stay tuned!

Bishop Louis Kihnemann of Biloxi, Father David Martinez, pastor of San Miguel Mission and Bishop Joseph Kopacz wave during a procession on the road to San Pedro. (Photo Terry Dickson/Diocese of Biloxi)