Category Archives: Columnists

Conference offers dynamic faith experience

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It is not too late to sign up for the Gulf Coast Faith Formation Conference to be held in Kenner, La., on Jan. 12-14, 2017.  While the conference is hosted and sponsored by the Archdiocese of New Orleans, this year the diocesan directors for faith formation from other dioceses in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama have worked collaboratively to present a truly regional conference.
We are expecting more than 1,000 people – laity, clergy and religious – from the Gulf Coast and throughout the United States attend. In its 35th year, the conference continues its heritage inspired by its previous namesake, Father Johannes Hofinger, SJ, a world-renowned missionary, evangelizer, teacher and catechetical leader.
This year’s theme, “Prayer: Our Faith Prayed and Lived,” will look at our role as Catholic leaders through a lens of prayer and prayerfulness.
We have been mindful to develop a conference that includes a little something for everyone. In addition to excellent catechetical presentations, there is a dedicated liturgy track as well as excellent break-out sessions for youth ministers and Catholic school teachers or administrators.
In short, the conference offers those involved in catechesis and evangelization in the Catholic Church an opportunity to enhance their ministries and to deepen their commitment to Jesus Christ through personal and professional development sessions with leaders in evangelization and catechetical ministry, liturgical celebrations and a variety of prayer experiences, formal and informal networking opportunities and thought-provoking and inspirational presentations.
New this year is Leadership Thursday which will include a presentation by Father David Caron, OP, on spiritual leadership and evangelization; Dr. Daniella Zsupan-Jerome on connection and communion and Paul Sanfrancesco on cultivating a faith-based digital community.
The conference will be buttressed by three keynote speakers who will bring to focus a three-fold action to Pray, Reflect and Witness.
PRAY: Sister Lynn McKenzie became a Benedictine Sister at Sacred Heart Monastery in Cullman, Ala., more than 35 years ago. As a Benedictine, she seeks to live a balanced life of prayer and work in keeping with the Benedictine motto of “Ora et Labora.” Her life of prayer in the community of Benedictine Sisters at Sacred Heart Monastery has been vital and life-giving. It is through prayer and community that she is able to live the Rule of St. Benedict. She will share her experience of how prayer helps her as she tries to be a faithful seeker of God in her daily journey, intending and hoping to live a life of fidelity, but realistic about the challenges. Sister Lynn says that “Prayer: Faith Prayed and Lived” is central to her life as a Benedictine Sister.
REFLECT: Dr. Brant Pitre is Professor of Sacred Scripture at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, La. He earned his Ph.D. in theology from the University of Notre Dame, where he specialized in the study of the New Testament and ancient Judaism. Dr. Pitre will offer his reflections on how we can “Pray the Scriptures.”
WITNESS: Bishop Ferdand Cheri is a Franciscan Friar of the Sacred Heart Province (St. Louis) and has been ordained for 37 years. He is auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Bishop Cheri has served as a member of the liturgical planning committee for the National Black Catholic Congress in Chicago, 2002; the planning committee for Unity Explosion, 1991, in New Orleans; the Bishops’ Committee on the Liturgy Subcommittee on Black Catholic Worship, 1984 to 1990; the National Joint Conference of Black Catholic Religious Planning Committee, 1983-1990; and the Black Catholic Theological Symposium, 1978. He is a revivalist, preaching across the country.
His strength and testimony comes from God’s Word in Scripture, “My grace is enough for you, for in weakness power reaches perfection.” (2Cor 12:9) You will be inspired as Bishop Cheri encourages us to “Go forth and witness.”
You don’t want to miss the great liturgies, a hallmark of the conference, including the opening Mass with Archbishop Gregory Aymond presiding and the closing Mass on Saturday with Bishop Joseph Kopacz presiding. More than 60 breakout sessions are also included. Sign up today! For more information go to: https://go4th.faith. We hope to see you there!

Focused tracks available:
Conference workshops are loosely organized into specific categories/tracks. Because of content some workshops can be found in more than one category/track.
 Adolescent Catechesis (Lights of Hope): 103, 203, 307, L30, 408, 409, 501, 506, 508, 608
 Adult Catechesis/RCIA: L12, 205, 303, L30, 408, L40, 502, 506, 602, 605
 Catholic Identity: 101, 201, 308, 404
 Discipleship: 102, 203, 204, 307, 402, 404, 407
 Elementary Catechesis: 204, 209, L30, L32, 406, 503, 601, 608
 Evangelization: Thursday-Caron, Keynote/Cheri, 106, 108, L12, L20, 309, 402, 408, 409, L40, 509, 603, 605
 Family Catechesis: 106, 107, 208, 305, 504
 Forms of Prayer: Keynote/Pitre, 104, 206, 209, 301, 302, 405, 406, 503, L52, 601, 606
 Pope Francis: 102, 206, 303, 304, 403, 505
 Special Needs/Disabilities: 202, 604
 Spirituality: Keynote/McKenzie, 105, 207, 301, 306, 309, 401, 603, 607
 Technology:  Thursday-Zsupan-Jerome, Sanfrancesco, 109, 508, 608
(Fran Lavelle is the Director of Faith Formation for the Diocese of Jackson.)

 

Election season shines light on immigration

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Millennial Reflections
By Father Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem
We have to talk about immigrants and refugees. Pope Francis from day one has been raising consciousness about the masses of immigrants, refugees, displaced people pouring into Italy and Europe as a result of wars in the Middle East and Africa. The American bishops just made a bold statement about immigration by electing as their president and vice-president two prelates of Mexican origin. Both are outspoken about immigrants and their rights. The Catholic Church in the U.S. has been quite clear about its stand on immigrants, migration and human rights.
Here in Mississippi we have as our neighbors immigrants from Mexico, Central and South America, the Middle East, India, Asia and more. They have been contributing in a big way to the economy and bringing diverse cultures and cuisines to our state. Read the Food section of The Clarion Ledger, the Jackson Free Press or whatever local paper serves your area and you see all manner of cuisine from many countries.
Immigrants work hard and give back in many ways to our state. They pay taxes like everyone else, but many cannot vote due to their immigration status. To be blunt, we Catholics have been dependent on foreign clergy keeping the church running smoothly for years, and that is not about to change. We need immigrants.
I say that because during the last 10 years or so the Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance (MIRA) and its allies have fought more than 280 anti-immigrant bills. We need to become aware of the vulnerable populations in our midst, especially minorities and immigrants. A new legislative session will start in January, and emboldened by the incoming administration, I believe we can expect several anti-immigrants bills.
Not a day goes by without a report of some group of immigrants or religious minorities fearful of what could happen to them. Since the election there is a report of a racial or religious attack on some group or another almost daily. We need to speak out and defend these vulnerable groups.
Catholics became numerous in the country as an immigrant church. These were mainly European, but they and their descendants built and made the Catholic Church what it is. We cannot forget our roots. We must be in solidarity with these new immigrants, regardless of their religion, in their struggle for fair treatment in this country.
We are not a church of rigid law and order. We are a church of mercy and compassion. If Pope Francis and this Year of Mercy teach us anything, let it be that. Law and order have been code words to oppress minorities whether African American or Latin Americans. The efforts Catholic Charities and other groups who support immigrants will be tested.
Then there are the refugees. Almost weekly we hear of the massive movement of refugees as great as or greater than after World War II. People don’t always pick up on that because those of us who grew up during and after WWII remember the cities flooded with European refugees and we recall the efforts to assist them. That was then.
Today the flood of refugees into Europe, and even here is generating new forms of xenophobia and racism. Neo-Nazi groups are resurrecting. It is clear where Pope Francis stands on the refugee issue. He says clearly we can do more, and do it well.
Finally, there is the fear issue. This presidential campaign was run on fear. It made vulnerable groups fearful for their safety. It made better-off groups fearful of the economy. The major issues like jobs were diverted by ginning up fear in people. When the people are afraid they turn to what will give them security. Their fear is directed to those who “are not like them” – Muslims, Jews, immigrants, African-Americans. We, as church, have to stand solidly against this.
We have always stood with the oppressed and minorities. We Catholics were once targeted, we cannot forget that. Together, as this Year of Mercy comes to a close let us make it a decade of mercy, and stand with our oppressed brothers and sisters.
(Father Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem, lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)

In Exile: Understanding Real Presence

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By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
When I was a graduate student in Belgium, I was privileged one day to sit in on a conference given by Cardinal Godfried Danneels of Brussels. He was commenting on the Eucharist and our lack of understanding of it full richness when he highlighted this contrast: If you stood outside of a Roman Catholic church today as people were coming out of the church and asked them: “Was that a good Eucharist,?” most everyone would answer on the basis of the homily and the music. If the homily was interesting and the music lively, most people would answer that it had been a good Eucharist.
Now, he continued, if you had stood outside a Roman Catholic church 60 or 70 years ago and asked: “Was that a good Mass today?” nobody would have even understood the question. They would have answered something to the effect of: “Aren’t they all the same!”
Today our understanding of the Eucharist, in Roman Catholic circles and indeed in most Protestant and Anglican circles, is very much concentrated on three things: the liturgy of the Word, the music and Communion. Moreover, in Roman Catholic churches, we speak of the real presence only in reference to the last element, the presence of Christ in the bread and wine.
While none of this is wrong, the liturgy of the word, the music and Communion are important, something is missing in this understanding. It misses the fact that the real presence is not just in the bread and wine, it is also in the liturgy of the Word and in the salvific event that is recalled in the Eucharistic prayer, namely, the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Most churchgoers already recognize that when the scriptures are celebrated in a liturgical service God’s presence is made special, more physically tangible, than God’s normal presence everywhere or God’s presence inside our private prayer. The Word of God, when celebrated in a church is, like Christ’s presence in the consecrated bread and wine, also the real presence.
But there’s a further element that’s less understood: The Eucharist doesn’t just make a person present; it also makes an event present. We participate in the Eucharist not just to receive Christ in Communion, but also to participate in the major salvific event of his life, his death and resurrection.
What’s at issue here?
At the Last Supper, Jesus invited his followers to continue to meet and celebrate the Eucharist “in memory of me.” But his use of the word “memory” and our use of that word are very different. For us “memory” is a weaker word. It simply means calling something to mind, remembering an event like the birth of your child, your wedding day, or the game when your favorite sports team finally won the championship. That’s a simple remembering, a passing recollection. It can stir deep feelings but it does nothing more. Whereas in the Hebrew concept out of which Jesus was speaking, memory, making ritual remembrance of something, implied much more than simply recalling something. To remember something was not simply to nostalgically recall it. Rather it meant to recall and ritually re-enact it so as to make it present again in a real way.
For example, that’s how the Passover Supper is understood within Judaism. The Passover meal recalls the Exodus from Egypt and the miraculous passing through the Red Sea into freedom. The idea is that one generation, led by Moses, did this historically, but that by re-enacting that event ritually, in the Passover Meal, the event is made present again, in a real way, for those at the table to experience.
The Eucharist is the same, except that the saving event we re-enact so as to remake it present through ritual is the death and resurrection of Jesus, the new Exodus. Our Christian belief here is exactly the same as that of our Jewish brothers and sisters, namely, that we are not just remembering an event, we are actually making it present to participate in. The Eucharist, parallel to a Jewish Passover meal, remakes present the central saving event in Christian history, namely, Jesus’ Passover from death to life in the Paschal mystery. And just as the consecrated bread and wine give us the real presence of Christ, the Eucharist also gives us the real presence of the central saving event in our history, Jesus’ passage from death to life.
Thus at a Eucharist, there are, in effect, three real presences: Christ is really present in the Word, namely, the scriptures, the preaching and the music. Christ is really present in the consecrated bread and wine; they are his body and blood. And Christ is really present in a saving event: Jesus’ sacrificial passing from death to life.
And so we go to the Eucharist not just to be brought into community by Jesus’ word and to receive Jesus in communion, we go there too to enter into the saving event of his death and resurrection. The real presence is in both a person and in an event.
(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser, theologian, teacher and award-winning author, is President of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, TX.

Column: Complete the Circle: Thanksgiving

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By George Evans
What is it that makes Thanksgiving special? Answers abound. Some say it’s the food. Argue the superiority of mom’s dressing over all other comers. Cornbread vs white bread or cornbread vs. mixed. How about pumpkin pie vs. ambrosia for dessert or mashed potatoes vs. sweet potato casserole or green beans vs. spinach madeleine? No debate on turkey. Just how much. Do some birds lose some taste if they are too big? The controversy can go on and on. But everyone always is stuffed at the end of the meal.
Politics is usually a disaster and should be avoided as a topic of discussion. This year more so, even if the election is over. Football has been a mixed bag this year so best to move on. Family problems have been relatively minor so probably they deserve only a passing mention. If something serious needs discussing that should probably wait for a smaller group at a later time not a holiday.
Religion can be explosive depending on the circumstances. But shouldn’t God have a place in Thanksgiving even if religion as such is soft peddled? After all, none of us can celebrate getting along with the Native Americans anymore. We have solved that situation by moving them “out of the way” to reservations. White folks get along with blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Muslims and others better than ever and vice versa. Just witness the recent campaigns for president. That must mean God has blessed us and our land.
It’s Thanksgiving so we must thank God for all our blessings. Scripture tells us over and over to thank God for life, particularly since we are all created in his own image and likeness. Apparently we must think we thank and honor Him by our abortion rate, our wars, our executions, our murders, our educational failures, our sexual abuses and other indiscretions. We do sometimes thank Him by acts of kindness and compassion, by selflessness instead of selfishness and narcissism, by generosity rather than greed, by inclusion rather than exclusion, by hope rather than despair and by love rather than hate, all of which his Son suggests to us over and over in the New Testament.
We also thank God at Thanksgiving for the wonderful creation he has given us for our use, joy and stewardship. We pledge to keep it pristine, develop it carefully and keep it awe-inspiring for those who come after us. We thank God at Thanksgiving for our wonderful parents and grandparents, spouses, children and grand children, friends and all who have loved us and we them in sharing our hearts and souls with each other. We thank God for being a God who talks to us, who embraces us, who shares with us when we embrace him in prayer and action.
We thank God for the grace to ask forgiveness from those we may be closest to and whom we may have hurt the worse and to forgive them and others 70 times seven times as part of a deeper maturity and conversion. We thank Him finally and primarily for the gift of His Son, Jesus, who loves us unconditionally, who has redeemed us and saved us from our sin, who makes our resurrection part of His and who by grace makes our Thanksgiving special.
Now, we can all fully join in this Thanksgiving regardless of what may be served for dinner. Happy Thanksgiving.
(George Evans is a retired pastoral minister and member of Jackson St. Richard Parish.)

Column: Word on Fire: Pilgrim teaches lesson of real loss

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By Bishop Robert Barron
I’m in the process of re-reading a spiritual classic from the Russian Orthodox tradition: The Way of a Pilgrim. This little text, whose author is unknown to us, concerns a man from mid-nineteenth century Russia who found himself deeply puzzled by St. Paul’s comment in first Thessalonians that we should “pray unceasingly.” How, he wondered, amidst all of the demands of life, is this even possible? How could the Apostle command something so patently absurd?
His botheration led him, finally, to a monastery and a conversation with an elderly spiritual teacher who revealed the secret. He taught the man the simple prayer that stands at the heart of the Eastern Christian mystical tradition, the so-called “Jesus prayer.” “As you breathe in,” he told him, say, ‘Lord Jesus Christ,’ and as you breathe out, say, ‘Have mercy on me.’” When the searcher looked at him with some puzzlement, the elder instructed him to go back to his room and pray these words a thousand times. When the younger man returned and announced his successful completion of the task, he was told, “Now go pray it 10 thousand times!”
This was the manner in which the spiritual master was placing this prayer on the student’s lips so that it might enter his heart and into the rhythm of his breathing in and out, and finally become so second nature to him that he was, consciously or unconsciously, praying it all the time, indeed praying just as St. Paul had instructed the Thessalonians.
In the power of the Spirit, the young man then set out to wander through the Russian forests and plains, the Jesus prayer perpetually on his lips. The only object of value that he had in his rucksack was the Bible, and with the last two rubles in his possession, he purchased a beat-up copy of the Philokalia, a collection of prayers and sayings from the Eastern Orthodox tradition. Sleeping outdoors, fending largely for himself, relying occasionally on the kindness of strangers, reading his books and praying his prayer, he made his way.
One day, two deserters from the Russian army accosted him on the road, beat him unconscious and stole his two treasures. When he came around and discovered his loss, the man was devastated and wept openly: how could he go on without food for his soul? Through a fortuitous set of circumstances, he managed to recover his lost possessions, and when he had them once again, he hugged them to his chest, gripping them so hard that his fingers practically locked in place around them.
I would invite you to stay with that image for a moment. We see a man with no wealth, no power, no influence in society, no fame to speak of, practically no physical possessions — but clinging with all of his might and with fierce protectiveness to two things whose sole purpose is to feed his soul. Here’s my question for you: What would you cling to in such a way? What precisely is it, the loss of which would produce in you a kind of panic? What would make you cry, once you realized that you no longer had it?
And to make the questions more pointed, let’s assume that you were on a desert island or that you, like the Russian pilgrim, had no resources to go out and buy a replacement. Would it be your car? Your home? Your golf clubs? Your computer? To be honest, I think for me it might be my iPhone. If suddenly I lost my ability to make a call, my contacts, my music, my GPS, my maps, my email, etc., I would panic — and I would probably cry for sheer joy once I had the phone back, and my fingers would close around it like a claw. What makes this confession more than a little troubling is that, 10 years ago, I didn’t even own a cell phone. I lived my life perfectly well without it, and if you had told me then that I would never have one, it wouldn’t have bothered me a bit.
What I particularly love about the pilgrim is that he was preoccupied, not about any of the passing, evanescent goods of the world, but rather about prayer, about a sustained contact with the eternal God. He didn’t care about the things that obsess most of us most of the time: money, power, fame, success. And the only possessions that concerned him were those simple books that fed his relationship to God. Or to turn it around, he wasn’t frightened by the loss of any finite good; but he was frightened to death at the prospect of losing his contact with the living God.
So what would you cling to like a desperate animal? What loss would you fear? What do you ultimately love?
(Bishop Robert Barron is an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.)

Guest Column: Veteran faces spiritual as well as physical struggle

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Light one Candle
By Tony Rossi
It was April 10, 2012, and U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Travis Mills was on his third tour of duty in Afghanistan. He and his team were sent to an area to check for IEDs (improvised explosive devices), and according to their minesweeping device, there was nothing dangerous in the ground. Mills, therefore, took off his backpack and put it down next to him. But the minesweeper had been wrong.
A hidden IED exploded, ripping off Mills’s right arm at the bicep and right knee at the leg joint. His left leg was broken, barely held on by a few pieces of muscle and tendon at the knee. Medics rushed over, but Mills told them to leave him alone because he believed there was no way he could be saved. They ignored him, evacuating him to Kandahar.
As doctors prepped him for surgery, Mills’s left leg came off when they pulled his pants down. He had already lost three of his limbs. And on April 12th, his left arm had to be amputated mid-wrist.
After being under heavy sedation for several days, Mills woke up on April 14th as one of only five quadruple amputees to survive injuries in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was his 25th birthday.
His battles weren’t over yet, though. Mills was in excruciating pain, both physically and mentally. He feared that his wife Kelsey and baby daughter Chloe would see him as a monster. And then there was God. Mills had lived a pretty upstanding life, so saying he was angry at God for allowing this to happen would be an understatement.
His physical pain was eventually resolved through a revolutionary treatment called a ketamine coma, which reset Mills’s nerve endings, allowing him to live pain free. And prosthetics allow him to function normally. When he tried to convince Kelsey that she should leave him because he was too much of a burden, she refused and assured him that she would be staying true to her marriage vows. And six-month-old Chloe?
As Mills told me during an interview about his Christopher Award-winning memoir “Tough As They Come,” she just sees him as “regular old Dad.”
Spiritually speaking, Mills still had some issues. While he was recovering in the hospital, his sister-in-law brought him a plaque with the words of Joshua 1:9 on it: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
He told her to take it away because he didn’t believe those words anymore. “What did God do?” he asked her. “Did he take a smoke break? Did he quit on me?”
She left the plaque where it was despite his protests. Eventually, Mills came to a new understanding of God’s role in our lives. He said, “I realized it’s not okay to just be a believer when things are going your way. That’s not how this works. It was important for me to realize that I had my family, I had my life, I had the ability to do things. As much as I was upset about the situation, God had a plan for me to keep going forward.”
Part of that forward movement involves running the Travis Mills Foundation, which supports fellow wounded warriors and their families by showing them that they can still live a life of accomplishment, purpose, and love. That’s not just speculation or happy talk. It’s a truth that Travis Mills exemplifies each day.
(Tony Rossi is the Communications Director for The Christophers, a Catholic media company. The mission of The Christophers is to encourage people of all ages, and from all walks of life, to use their God-given talents to make a positive difference in the world. Learn more at www.christophers.org.)

Guest Column: At life’s end, your best gift

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By Sister Constance Veit, l.s.p.
As a resident of Washington, D.C., I have been closely following the campaign to legalize assisted suicide in our nation’s capital.
At the same time, my siblings and I have spent the last two weeks at my mother’s bedside in a hospital intensive care unit in my hometown. For days, I’ve been watching the physicians and nurses tending, with incredible focus and professionalism, to my mother, who is unconscious. No clinical sign has been left unexamined; no potential treatment option left undiscussed. Witnessing all of this has given me a lot to think about.
Such attention to detail; so many resources spent on a single life – and the lives of each of the other critically ill patients in this and so many other hospitals – how can we explain such an intense level of financial and human investment in the sick and elderly?
For me the answer to this question is obvious: Each human life is worth our care and attention because every person has been created in God’s image and likeness and is thus endowed with inviolable dignity and worth. As Pope Benedict XVI often said, “Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary” in God’s plan.
Every human life is sacred, even when the individual is unaware or no longer values life.

Sr. Viet

Sr. Viet

To those who are advocating for the ability to cut short the lives of the sick and elderly, and to those who express the desire to end life on their own terms, we must offer a heartfelt response: Even if you no longer value your own life, we do. We value your life because you are inherently worthy of love and reverence. There is no need to prove your usefulness or your personal worth; you are valuable simply because you are, and because you are a fellow child of God.
The sick, disabled and elderly play an essential role in our human community, in part, because they draw us together and teach us, through their state of dependence, how to be more loving. This was highlighted by Tracy Grant of The Washington Post, whose reflection about caring for her terminally ill husband went viral several weeks ago.
Grant referred to the time she spent caring for her husband as the best months of her life. Prior to her husband’s illness, she wrote, “I had yet to discover the reason I was put on this earth. During those seven months, I came to understand that whatever else I did in my life, nothing would matter more than this. Even though I really didn’t know how this would end.”
“Some days were more difficult than others,” Grant recalled, “but there were moments of joy, laughter, tenderness in every day – if I was willing to look hard enough. I found I could train myself to see more beauty than bother, to set my internal barometer to be more compassionate than callous. But I also discovered that with each day, my heart and soul grew more open to seeing this beauty than at any other time in my life.”
Grant believes that she “will never again be as good a person” as she was when she cared for her husband. “I am a better person for having been [his] caregiver,” she concluded. “It was his last, best gift to me.”
My siblings and I returned home to share a home-cooked meal dropped off by an old friend. We watched the World Series and talked about all we’ve been through with my mother so far, as well as our own wishes and intentions in such a situation. If my mother had chosen to check out early, we, her children, would not have these weeks together to shower her with our love and grow up a little more, together. This may be her last, best gift to us.
As you consider your end of life wishes think twice before you deprive your family members and friends of your last, best gift.
(Sister Constance Veit, l.s.p., is director of communications for the Little Sisters of the Poor.)

In Exile: Our Resistance to Love

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By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
There’s nothing simple about being a human being. We’re a mystery to ourselves and often our own worst enemies. Our inner complexity befuddles us and, not infrequently, stymies us. Nowhere is this truer than in our struggle with love and intimacy.
More than anything else, we hunger for intimacy, to be touched where we are most tender, where we are most ourselves, where all that’s most precious in us lies, vulnerable and yearning. Yet, in the actual face of intimacy, sensitive people often become disquieted and resistant.
We see two powerful instances of this in the Gospels: The first in a story, recorded in all four Gospels, where a woman enters a room where Jesus is dining and, in a series of lavish gestures, breaks an expensive bottle of perfume, pours the perfume onto his feet, washes his feet with her tears, dries them with her hair, and then begins to kiss his feet. What’s the response of those in the room, save for Jesus?
Discomfort and resistance. This shouldn’t be happening! Everyone shifts uncomfortably in their chairs in the face of this raw expression of love and Jesus, himself, has to challenge them to look at the source of their discomfort.
Among other things, he points out that, ironically, what they are uncomfortable with is what lies at the very center of life and at the very center of their deepest desires, namely, the pure giving and receiving of love and affection. It’s this, Jesus affirms, for which we are alive and it’s this experience which prepares us for death. It’s what we are alive for. It’s also what we most yearn for? So why our discomfort and resistance when we actually face it in life?
The second instance occurs in John’s Gospel where, at the Last Supper, Jesus tries to wash his disciples’ feet. As John records it, Jesus got up from the table, stripped off his outer robe, took a basin and towel, and began to wash his disciples’ feet. But he meets discomfort and resistance, clearly voiced by Peter who simply tells Jesus: “Never! You will never wash my feet!”
Why? Why the resistance? Why resistance in the face of the fact that, no doubt, more than anything else, what Peter most deeply desired was exactly that Jesus should wash his feet, that he would enjoy this kind of intimacy with Jesus?
Answering the question of our struggle with intimacy in this context provides one clue for why we sometimes become uncomfortable and resistant when we are in the actual face of what we desire so deeply. Our feet are too-intimate; they’re a part of our bodies where we worry about dirt and smell, not a part of ourselves that we feel comfortable having others touch.
There’s an innate vulnerability, a discomfort, an inchoate shame, attached to having someone else touch and wash so intimate a part of us. Intimacy demands an ease which our vulnerability sometimes renders impossible. And so this text speaks to one kind of resistance to intimacy, to a particular unease within certain circumstances.
But Peter’s resistance here speaks too of something else, something more salient: If we are healthy and sensitive, we all will naturally experience a certain discomfort and resistance in the face of raw gift, before raw intimacy, before raw gratuity. And, while this is something to be overcome, it’s not a fault, a moral or psychological flaw on our part.
On the contrary, in its normal expression, it’s a sign of moral and psychological sensitivity. Why do I say this?
Why is something that seems to block us from moving towards the very essence of life not a sign that there’s something fundamentally wrong inside of us? I suggest that it’s not a flaw but rather a healthy mechanism inside us because narcissistic, boorish
and insensitive persons are often immune to this discomfort and resistance. Their narcissism shields them from shame and their callousness allows them an easy and brute ease with intimacy, like someone who is sexually jaded enough to be comfortable with pornography or like someone who takes intimacy as something to be had by right, casually or even aggressively. In this case, there’s no shame or discomfort because there’s no real intimacy.
Sensitive people, on the other hand, struggle with the rawness of intimacy because genuine intimacy, like heaven, is not something that can be glibly or easily achieved. It’s a lifelong struggle, a give and take with many setbacks, a revealing and a hiding, a giving over and a resistance, an ecstasy and a feeling of unworthiness, an acceptance that struggles with real surrender, an altruism that still contains selfishness, a warmth that sometimes turns cold, a commitment that still has some conditions, and a hope that struggles to sustain itself.
Intimacy isn’t like heaven. It is salvation. It is the Kingdom. Thus, like the Kingdom, both the road and the gate towards it are narrow, not easily found. So be gentle, patient, and forgiving towards others and self in that struggle.
(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser, theologian, teacher and award-winning author, is President of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas)

NET team demonstrates value of service

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Kneading Faith
By Fran Lavelle
There are some things about working directly with college-aged young people that I will forever miss.  Clearly on the top of that list are the opportunities to be present and to really hear their stories.  I recently had the opportunity to spend some time with the National Evangelization Team (NET) who came to our diocese for a high school retreat entitled, “Fully Alive.”  The retreat was held at Lake Forrest Ranch in Macon. The team spent Friday night in Starkville and, still having my home there, I invited them to come to dinner.
It was a lovely evening. The team was made up of 12 members aged 18-23.  Members represented several States from California to West Virginia; and, from Minnesota to Florida and various States in between. My heart filled with gratitude as each bright, cheery faced young person disembarked from the van, hand extended, followed by a warm, “Hi, I am…”
These types of gatherings a few years ago were quite common at my home.  I have been away from full time campus ministry for two years now and it was quite clear that I miss these opportunities.
Abbey Schuhmann, Coordinator for the Office of youth Ministry was responsible for bringing the NET Team to the diocese.  She was also the leader of the caravan to my house. It was truly a gift and blessing to share not just a meal but our mutual love for God’s young people. Abbey brings so many gifts to ministry, including a gentle reassuring presence.  In addition she is has excellent organization and planning skills. Since day-one she has been busy planning and preparing for a full calendar of events for the youth in our Diocese.  The Fall Retreat was her inaugural diocesan youth event since she joined the chancery staff in May.
Having had experience with NET Ministries in her youth ministry job in her parish she knew NET would be a great fit for the diocese. Word on the street is the weekend was well received by youth and the adult advisors. The take away from a weekend like this, especially for youth, is recognizing that they are not alone.
There is no substitute for taking the opportunity to be present to God in a truly magnificent environment with amazing youth and a great retreat team. Our youth heard great talks, spent time reflecting and sharing in small groups, playing games, singing, going to Reconciliation, and celebrating Mass with friends old and new.  Times like these create touch tones that both youth and adults will think back on for years to come.
In thinking about the gift of the weekend and the many graces shared, I was reminded how important it is to encourage our young people to think about this kind of service. NET is one many ministries our young people can volunteer for a more extensive experience.  NET teams, for example, are formed in mid-August and complete their work in mid-May. No matter what your interest, education, health care, pastoral care or evangelization, there are so many opportunities to spend a year or two after college graduation or in between college.
A great resource for finding volunteer ministry experiences is the Catholic Volunteer Network (https://www.catholicvolunteernetwork.org/). They publish an annual book, RESPONSE, which lists volunteer opportunities.  The website also includes a database of opportunities.  In being exposed to these sorts of options, young people are given a greater insight into how they may come to serve the Church and one another as adults.
I have known many young folks over the years that did one or two years of volunteer service.  Face it young people, you have years of gainful employment to look forward to. Why not give of your time and talent to serve the Church in a way that you personally find meaningful? Often times these volunteer opportunities provide loan deferment so you can put off paying back student loans until after your volunteer service is completed. In meeting the dynamic NET Team that came to Mississippi I was also reminded of how good it is to be exposed to people from other regions. It breaks down stereotypes and challenges us to see one another as part of God’s family.
If you are looking for a retreat opportunities for youth or need more information on volunteer service opportunities, shoot me an email: fran.lavelle@jacksondiocese.org.  I would be happy to help.
(Fran Lavelle is the Director of Faith Formation for the Diocese of Jackson. See page 15 for a story and photos from the Fully Alive Retreat.)

How can we best protect our young people?

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Reflections on Life
By Father Jerome LeDoux, SVD
Whisperings were here, there and everywhere. “I have deep misgivings about the funeral. We must be very careful,” some were saying. “This thing is not over yet.”
“They have not yet found the killer,” others were saying ominously. “Revenge killings are sure to follow.” There was a general malaise in the air about the execution-style killing of 19-year-old Shawn Parish and 21-year-old Nakia Ramer, Jr., both of Opelousas, Louisiana.
The hit went down, not in a big city but in the small, unincorporated community of Plaisance, Louisiana. One shot fired into the car penetrated the back of one man’s head. When the second turned to see what happened, a second shot blew into his forehead. Ironically, Plaisance is the French word for pleasance. Sad to say, this kind of marksman belongs in the Mideast theater of war against ISIS.
Unfortunately, I had been to the well more than once before when I served at St. Augustine Church in New Orleans. The worst funeral was that of a 19-year-old who was shot to death on the elevated I-10. The 700-seat church was full and even the standing room was jammed. Six young men dressed impeccably in white with pink trim 3-piece suits, bow ties and white shoes moved in unison with whatever the folks in church did. But their reverence ended with the conclusion of the Mass.
Denser than Mardi Gras, outside the church people were packed like sardines for a couple of blocks in every direction. Although moving among the thousands was extremely difficult, I had to muscle my way to the lead car. Once there, we witnessed in shock the impeccably-dressed young men leap onto the hood of two limousines, then onto the roof, break-dancing and crushing the roofs in. They inflicted $7,000 damage to said limousines before dismounting and melting away.
With Police Chief Donald Thompson and Officer Baxter Iford at hand on October 8, with Holy Ghost Church only about 2/3 full, with no crowd outside, all the young folks there, as well as the old, sported a sad, serious mien, expectant of words of some consequence. I began the funeral sermon with the talk around the town.
“’This is not over yet.’ ‘They have not yet found the killer.’ ‘Revenge killings are sure to follow.’ I’ve been hearing about vendetta – revenge. I do not want to hear this. You do not want to hear this. We do not want to hear this. More killings will not solve or heal anything. On the contrary, more killings will aggravate and make more raw the sorrow, pain and hurt that need a mighty healing!
“What we need to hear from all the adults here, especially the more mature, is our resolve to help take care of what we call the extended family or the village. We  have heard repeatedly, ‘It takes a village to rear a child.’ Indeed, we all know just how difficult it is to rear a child, particularly in these days when we have to contend with drugs and the fast, loose life that threatens us even in small towns nowadays.
“We need to hear our resolve, our commitment right now! We need to hear from one another our pledge to one another, but, most importantly, to God that, with God’s help, we will stand next to, stand behind in support, stand before in defense, counsel them in whatever way we can, and defend our children from infancy, to the toddler stage, from childhood to adolescence, to young adulthood. We want to defend them at the risk to our own safety and the possible cost of our own lives.
“Do I hear a pledge from you? Say, ‘I pledge!’ A weak ripple of ‘I pledge’ followed. I repeated ‘I pledge!’ The ripple grew stronger. When I again repeated, the ripple increased to a firm ‘I pledge!’ We just want our children to know that we, the entire village, are firmly and resolutely with them!
Once again, I said, “I pledge!” There was resonance in their pledge. Once more, “I pledge!” An enthusiastic chorus followed. One more time, “I pledge!” That time there was a bit of rumble and drum-like hand-slapping on the seats. It is our fond prayer and hope that a seed of God’s Word and human solidarity is growing into constant care of our children.
Since the hearse had left without me, church head usher Joseph Butler drove me, overtaking the funeral cortège that was mysteriously going in the wrong direction to reach Serenity Memorial Park cemetery. But the route was planned, stopping to transfer Nakia’s body to a horse-drawn hearse, passing the Briford White Eagle in The Hill section of town where Sam Cooke and other singers once starred, stopping at the home of Nakia’s mother, Lisa, where Gospel pieces were sung, reaching the cemetery after an hour and 15 minutes.
After the grave blessing, a sore-foot, barefoot relative read her last tribute to Nakia whose life had come to a premature end. Then dozens of children and adults sprinkled each other with holy water, saying aloud how much each of them needed a powerful blessing.
“God is love, and all who abide in love abide in God and God in them.”   (1 John 4:16)
(Father Jerome LeDoux, SVD, has written “Reflections on Life since 1969.)