Category Archives: Diocesan News

St. Gabriel Mercy Center celebrates finalist status

Posted on by
Reply

By Maureen Smith

MOUND BAYOU – The staff and clients at St. Gabriel Mercy center were honored to be ranked among the finalists for the Lumen Christi Award. This year, the organization recognized eight ministries across the country for their work in bringing Christ to the margins. Extension wrote brief profiles online of the finalists and offered longer features in its fall magazine. They include the winner, Father Enrique Herrera, a pastor in California working to send the immigrant children in his care to college, a military chaplain helping heal the wounds of war, two pastors working with Native American populations, women religious bringing the gospel to their dioceses and lay leaders welcoming a booming Hispanic population in their communities. The St. Gabriel Center was in the middle of this amazing group of evangelizers and pastors. The Sisters of Mercy opened the center. It is now run by a community of Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity and a staff of local lay people. Education is at the center of the work there. Teenagers and young adults attend GED classes, adults learn how to sew and sell their creations, and the Parents as Teachers program demonstrates how to become better advocates and caregivers. The senior program offers a meal, exercise and activities. On a Thursday morning in August, the center was packed. Every program was in session, including a birthday party for the seniors. “It’s always busy,” said Mavis Honorable, COO. “We just prayed that God’s will be done,” said Sister Monica Mary DeQuardo, executive director of the center, when she found out they were among the finalists. She was delighted that the work of her predecessors and present staff caught the attention of Bishop Joseph Kopcaz and Catholic Extension. She and the staff released a joint statement about this year’s winner. “We acknowledge the contributing and outstanding efforts of Father Enrique Herrera in his Faith Community of Holy Trinity Church in the Salinas Valley of the Diocese of Monterey, Calif. There is no doubt that Father Enrique is a very pivotal person – as pastor – in the continuing education and Catholic social outreach for the many Hispanic people of his parish as well as the civic community of Greenfield and surrounding areas where the Catholic Church is growing immensely and rapidly,” it read. Sister DeQuardo and Sister Emy Beth Furrer have served at the center for the past two years. Much of the lay staff, including Honorable, Trena Robinson, development director, are natives of Mound Bayou and proud of their Delta town. It remains the oldest all-black community in the United States. It was founded by freed slaves and boasted a booming local economy, healthcare and a train station in days past. Today, much of the industry has left, and with it, much of the population. In recent years, groups have started working to preserve the heritage in this town. Honorable takes visitors on a tour, showing them the elegant founder’s houses, which are under renovation with hopes of becoming bed-andbreakfast destinations; and a modern medical complex where residents can get a low-cost ride to visit a doctor or dentist. Honorable said when she was younger, the complex was a collection of trailers. Peter Wood and his brothers still operate Peter’s Pottery just across a field from the center, drawing collectors from across the Southeast to the heart of the Delta. St. Gabriel is also expanding. Youth volunteers from Biloxi and Hattiesburg have transformed the old church building into classroom spaces. Sister DeQuardo hopes to expand adult education into those rooms. “Many of our parents can’t help their kids in school, because they are lacking in education,” said Sister DeQuardo. The project was moving along nicely, but stalled this summer. “We need a new roof,” she explained. Heavy summer rains revealed a leak in the newly renovated building. Honorable is in the process of getting bids to replace it. Then, the staff will turn to the task of raising the money. Sister DeQuardo said they also need a van to pick up their seniors. And furniture for the classrooms would be nice. There may be a long list of needs, but the staff is undaunted. They tackle their challenges one at a time. It’s the same way they serve their clients, as individuals with dignity and potential.

MOUND BAYOU – Bobbie Dulaney, center, coordinates the sewing progam for the St. Gabriel Center. On August 15, she works with two of her clients. (Photo by Maureen Smith)

Parishioners, Knights knock on doors, check on senior citizens aft er Irma

Posted on by
Reply

By Tom Tracy

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. (CNS) – The nation watched in sadness and outrage at the deaths of eight elderly people in Hollywood without air conditioning and electricity following the historic passing of Hurricane Irma. Members of nearby St. Edward Parish in Pembroke Pines and the local Knights of Columbus council, hearing the call to be good neighbors, prepared hot meals and set out to knock on doors and check in on senior citizen residents four days after the storm. The group was given permission to go door to door with their hot meals and water supplies at the expansive Century Village Pembroke Pines housing development in western Broward County Sept. 14. Residents there reportedly had been without electricity and air conditioning for days, although power was being restored even as the parish volunteers were making their rounds. According to news reports, police confirmed earlier in the week that about 60 percent of the 15,000-person community of mostly retirees still didn’t have electricity and was under a “boil water” notice. Century Village is a community comprised of people 55 and over. Compounding the hardships, many elderly citizens at Century Village were unable to get around the four-story buildings because the elevators were not working and some residents couldn’t climb three and four flights of stairs. The volunteers visited several of the buildings with hot meals consisting of Cuban food and pasta along with bottled water. Scott O’Connor, the Knights’ state secretary for Florida and a resident of Pembroke Pines, noted that his own mother had lived in Century Village at one time. “It is a large community built for citizens over 55 years old and in the early days it was primarily Jewish-oriented, but now it is quite an eclectic mix of people and a kind of self-contained city,” O’Connor said. “We are out here helping and that is what we do; it doesn’t matter what religion you are, we are helping everybody.” One of the issues the housing complex has, he said, is that the residents are susceptible to loss of power and there is only one elevator in each of these buildings. “Sometimes you have elderly people who may have mobility issues and can’t get down the stairs, and so bringing meals and supplies in for them is really a necessity and something we can do to help,” O’Connor said. “Normally when we get affected by storms it is localized. But in this particular case, Hurricane Irma affected really all of our Florida jurisdiction. And we still don’t Mississippi Catholic have access to the Florida Keys here on the fourth day.” Daniel Diaz, grand knight of Council 14698 in Pompano Beach, helped coordinate the food delivery program along with five other Knights. “Because they lost power here for about a week, all the food in their refrigerator went bad,” said Diaz, who said he rode out the hurricane with his mother at her residence nearby. “This was widespread and went straight up the entire state.” Diaz, who also is the Knights’ state young adult and college council coordinator, said he will keep looking for ways the Knights can help in the local hurricane recovery.

Volunteers from St. Edward Parish in Pembroke Pines, Fla., prepare hot meals before setting out to knock on doors and check in on senior citizen residents of the expansive Century Village Pembroke Pines housing development Sept. 14. The effects of Hurricane Irma left the residents there without electricity and air conditioning for days. (CNS photo/Tom Tracy)

“We are going to keep our ears open and see how else we can serve our community.” Irma will be remembered as one of the Atlantic’s strongest hurricanes on record, with peak winds of 185 mph and Category 4 strength when it landed in the Florida Keys. Some sources are predicting that insured losses from the storm could total $18 billion in the U.S. Hurricane Irma also caused significant harm to populations in the Caribbean, including the U.S. Virgin Islands. “Before Hurricane Irma, we set up the network in terms of communications and figured out who was doing the various positions in the state and with coordination with Supreme,” said Knights District Deputy Peter Chiaravalle, a resident of Fort Lauderdale. “We were lucky on the east coast of Florida – we didn’t get hit as bad as we thought we might have,” Chiaravalle said. “So a lot of preparation work really paid off.” Elsewhere in Florida, the Knights were already down in the Keys helping out and a supply truck from the north of the state was waiting to go there, said Joe Cox, public relations coordinator for the Knights’ region six in Florida. “It is in times like these that we find out who has a willing heart and a ready hand to do something for our fellow human beings who have suffered a lot,” he said.
(Tracy is a correspondent for the Florida Catholic, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Miami.)

Bishop pens letter to support Migrant Support Center

Posted on by
Reply

(Editor’s note: Bishop Joseph Kopacz used the recent developments surrounding DACA to call attention to the Catholic Charities’ Migrant Support Center. The following is an excerpt of a letter sent along with some case studies to supporters describing the work of the center.)
The Migrant Support Center is providing critical services to the immigrant and migrant populations who have pressing needs as recent arrivals, or as long standing residents. Now more than ever in an openly hostile and suspicious climate throughout our nation, this population requires the social services and legal expertise of our staff. The documented and undocumented immigrants often do not know their rights, and our team of two lawyers and interns work tirelessly to defend their causes in court, while at the same time providing education and information programs throughout our diocese. This is a formidable task, because the Catholic Diocese of Jackson is the largest east of the Mississippi River, a territory of 38,000 square miles. In addition, often they receive calls for other social services and the staff directs these clients to the appropriate programs.
I thank you for considering the request from our Migrant Support Center Staff to assist them in the work they do with vulnerable immigrant and migrant populations. May the living God continue to prosper the work you do on behalf of those in need.
When large numbers of unaccompanied immigrant children, primarily from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, sought refuge in the United States beginning in 2013, His Holiness, Pope Francis, said, “This humanitarian emergency requires, as a first urgent measure, these children be welcomed and protected.” At the Catholic Charities, Inc., Migrant Support Center, we take up the Holy Father’s call to arms.
It is our agency’s mission “to be a visible sign of Christ’s love by helping the vulnerable and those in need, especially children, women, and families.” At the Migrant Support Center, we defend migrants of all backgrounds, focusing on those central to our mission. These clients range from survivors of domestic violence working to build new lives for themselves and their families, to Venezuelan families fleeing persecution based on their political opinions, and to unaccompanied minors from Central America seeking safety in the United States from societal and family violence.
These unaccompanied children are our most vulnerable clients, as many have already suffered extensive harm in their home countries despite their tender age, and undertook the perilous journey from their home countries to the United States all alone. U.S. immigration law provides certain legal remedies to children who are fleeing persecution, or have been abused, neglected or abandoned by their parents; however, applying for these remedies involves several complicated steps, often while facing an Immigration Judge in adversarial court proceedings. Children who are unable to afford counsel or find free legal assistance must face these proceedings alone, meaning an almost certain return to the dangers from which they fled.
For such children in Mississippi, few legal resources exist, especially for children who are unable to pay the hefty legal fees for private attorneys, which can easily exceed $5,000. Therefore, the Migrant Support Center is working diligently to ensure that all unaccompanied Mississippi children in need have quality pro bono immigration representation, protecting their rights to due process and helping them create new lives of healing and freedom in the United States.
Such is the case of Julio, an indigenous Guatemalan teenager who fled his native country as an unaccompanied minor after his town’s mayor forcibly recruited him to take up arms against a foreign mining company that was excavating in his area. Of great importance was the fact that the Guatemalan government recruited foreign mining companies to excavate traditionally indigenous lands (such as Julio’s town), preventing indigenous communities from enjoying and cultivating the land and its resources, and deepening the historic rift between indigenous Guatemalans and the federal government.
During one skirmish, a miner slashed Julio’s arm with a machete, leaving him physically and emotionally scarred. Neither Julio nor his friends could seek help from the Guatemalan government, as federal troops provided support to the mining companies. With the assistance of Catholic Charities and our partners at the Immigration Clinic of Mississippi College School of Law, Julio now has asylum and is enjoying his new-found freedom in the United States.
The Migrant Support Center also represented four young Honduran siblings, the Garcias, who fled Honduras after being physically, emotionally, and sexually abused and later abandoned by their father. Migrant Support Center attorneys represented the children in state court proceedings to ensure they had appropriate protection in their new home, and secured Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and Lawful Permanent Residence (green cards) for the children on the basis of the trauma they suffered in Honduras. The children are now attending school, making friends, learning English, and receiving counseling services in their new home.
Through your generous support, the Migrant Support Center can ensure that all immigrant children in Mississippi receive the warm welcome and protection that Pope Francis requires. Your donation will not only ensure that Catholic Charities can continue representing unaccompanied children such as Julio and the Garcia children on a pro bono basis, but it will also assist Migrant Support Center attorneys in recruiting, training, and mentoring a strong network private practitioners to defend immigrant children as well.

Seminarian Education Challenge offers brunches

Posted on by
Reply

By Maureen Smith
FLOWOOD – The Diocese of Jackson hosted the first Seminarian Education Challenge Mass and brunch at St. Paul Parish Saturday, Sept. 9. Dozens of people from the Jackson area attended to pray for diocesan seminarians and donate toward their education.
Bishop Joseph Kopacz used the feast of the day, St. Peter Claver, to speak about the priesthood and the value of evangelization.
Father José de Jesús Sánchez, vocation promoter, spoke about the importance of local vocations. “I look forward to the day when you tell me to go back to Mexico, because you don’t need me anymore,” he joked.
Father Brian Kaskie, director of seminarians and Mississippi native, spoke about his job and the challenge of educating future priests.
While the Knights of Columbus and their families served a three course gourmet brunch, Deacon Aaron Williams spoke about his vocational journey and how much the Mass has meant to him from the time he was a child. Deacon Nick Adam explained the Catholic Extension Seminarian Challenege. If the Diocese of Jackson can raise $100,000 by the end of the year, Extension will offer $25,000 in grant money to be used for seminary education.
Both deacons are set to be ordained to the priesthood next spring.
There are more brunches on the calendar for those who wish to contribute. The next, at Oxford St. John Parish is set for Saturday, Nov 4. Mass starts at 9 a.m., brunch follows.
Those who cannot attend a brunch can still donate. To RSVP or donate, please contact Pam McFarland at 601.960.8479 or email pam.mcfarland@jacksondiocese.org.

St. Paul Parish pulled out all the stops for the event, offering a three-course brunch to go with Mass and presentations. (Photo by Maureen Smith)

Father Brian Kaskie, above, pastor of McComb St. Alphonsus Parish, spoke about his role as director of seminarians.

Chancellor reflects on protection as diocese integrates new program

Posted on by
Reply

By Mary Woodward
MADISON – I really never thought of how our diocesan protection of children training affected me until I went looking for some new shoes at a local sporting goods store recently. I could not decide between two pairs and I wanted a young person’s opinion as I was hoping to be “hip.”
Soon a girl who was probably 12 years old came into the shoe department by herself. I suddenly faced a dilemma – I am a stranger to her, should I speak to her when she is alone? And further, who lets their child wander through a store full of strangers by themselves?!
I don’t think those thoughts would have entered my mind had I not been through the safe environment training we are required to go through as diocesan chancery employees. Fortunately the child’s mother appeared and I was able to get the girl’s expert opinion because her mother was fully aware of what I was doing.
Every volunteer and staff member who works with children and youth on the parish, school and diocesan level must go through background checks and must participate in the diocesan protection of children program. All chancery employees must participate whether or not they work directly with children.
During the last year, the Diocese of Jackson has transitioned to a new program, called Virtus, for training and ongoing formation in the area of protection of children. During the week of Sept. 5, the diocese hosted three “training the trainer” workshops for parish and school leaders to learn how to train volunteers and staff in the Virtus Program.
Pat Neal, who has been with Virtus since its inception in 2002, led the sessions in Madison, Batesville and Tupelo. Representatives from parishes and schools spent the day viewing the videos and materials Virtus offers as part of its comprehensive and proactive approach to educating adults on recognizing and responding to abuse of children and vulnerable adults. They also were able to get clarification about how to administer the on-line programs on the local level.

“It is always good to have someone come from the national office to lead training and answer questions from our parish and school leaders,” said Vickie Carollo, coordinator for the Office of Protection of Children. “We have so many dedicated leaders who want to ensure we provide the safest of environments for our children and vulnerable adults. Pat [Neal] did a great job clarifying how the program can be administered and how to facilitate training for volunteers and staff on the local level,” Carollo added.
Bishop Joseph Kopacz was familiar with the Virtus program from his time in the Diocese of Scranton. He attended part of the session in Madison and stressed the importance and effectiveness of Virtus.
“Bishop Kopacz now serves on the U.S. Bishops’ Committee for the Protection of Children, so he is very invested in the success of our diocesan program,” said Carollo.
According to Crispin Montelione, Associate Director of the Virtus Programs, “Virtus was created and piloted before our country really realized there was a sexual abuse problem as pervasive as it was and before the 2002 sex abuse scandal in the church erupted culminating in the Bishops’ Charter via the USCCB meeting in Dallas in June of that year.
“This is important because a lot of people assume that the program was reactionary, and in response to the ‘sex abuse crisis.’ But, the program was created and piloted due to the concern of a board chairman before the world realized there was a crisis as pervasive as it was. Monsignor Kevin McCoy noted that sexual abuse existed and asked the board what we could do about it – and everything took off from there.”
“Virtus was the first proactive program geared toward educating adults on how to protect children. Everything else at the time was focused on training children as the primary protectors of themselves,” said Montelione. “Instead, we train the adults as the primary protectors, and we also train children to learn about how to protect themselves when caring adults are not around.”
The program has trained more than three million individuals through 255,376 training sessions since January 2002, and is becoming more and more international. Within the U.S. Church, VIRTUS has 140 diocesan and eparchial relationships out of the 196 Catholic arch/dioceses and eparchies, in addition to other independent Catholic institutions in the U.S. A neat fact, in 2016, VIRTUS Online had almost four million website visits from people in 172 countries and every continent except Antarctica.
According to Carollo, approximately 15,000 individuals have been screened and participated in training during the past 14 years. She sees Virtus as an extremely positive initiative for the diocese in its constant efforts to protect children in any environment and to educate adults on being more aware of and able to recognize abuse of children and how to respond.
One of the key formational aspects of the program are the monthly online bulletins. Reminders to read for each bulletin are emailed monthly to everyone in our diocesan database. The bulletins address a wide array of topics such as online pornography, neglect as a form of abuse and how to recognize it, and abuse of the elderly. Each bulletin has a question at the end to be answered and submitted online.
Reading these bulletins caused me to pause before approaching the child without her mother or father around. It is through these bulletins that I have become more aware of the surroundings when I go to my nieces’ and nephews’ events. It is amazing how much more aware I am of possible risks.
We all have a responsibility to protect our children in every arena of society. The Virtus program is a well-designed process to help us do just that. For more information visit the Virtus web site at www.virtus.org.

(Mary Woodward is the chancellor for the Diocese of Jackson.)

Calendar of events

Posted on by
Reply

SPIRITUAL ENRICHMENT

BROOKSVILLE Dwelling Place Retreat Center, “Knowing Myself in Christ,” October 8-10, begins with 6:30 p.m. dinner on Sunday evening and goes through Tuesday. Using the backdrop of the story of the Samaritan woman’s encounter with Jesus at the well, the retreat will explore the thirst of all of us “to be known without feeling judged.” Presenter: Father. Henry Shelton, pastor of St. Francis Church, Brookhaven. Donation: $200. Details: (662) 738-5348 or dwellpl@gmail.com.
GREENWOOD Locus Benedictus Spirituality Center, Experience the Little Ways of St. Therese, French Discalced Carmelite nun, who is widely venerated in modern times. Presenter: Dr. Nancy Ehret. Saturday September 30, 9 a.m. – 12 noon. Each participant is asked to bring a brown bag lunch and share a meal to celebrate Sister’s life. Details: Magdalene Abraham, (662) 299-1232.

PARISH, SCHOOL AND FAMILY EVENTS

GLUCKSTADT The 31th annual St. Joseph Parish GermanFest, Sunday, September 24, 11:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. Advance meal tickets are $6 and are available from parishioners. Meals the day of the festival will be $7. Admission and parking are free. The family-oriented festival is best known for its delicious German food and authentic German folk music provided this year by the band, Polkameisters from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Homemade German delicacies such as bratwurst slathered in sauerkraut, and authentic German desserts, pies, and other home-made favorites will be served. Details: Pam Minninger, 601-856-2054 or www.stjosephgluckstadt.com.
GRENADA St. Peter Church, Adult Faith Formation Retreat, October 13 – 14, Presenters: Anne, the lay apostle, and Father Darragh Connolly, Registration is $40. Details: Annette Tipton (985) 518-5674 All adults are invited.

JACKSON Holy Family Parish Anniversary, September 29-30 and October 1, celebrating 60 years of worship, praise and joyful events. Banquet on Friday night at 7:00 p.m., a family outing on Saturday from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. and Sunday Mass with Bishop Joseph Kopacz at 10 a.m. All former parishioners, former priests and sister churches are invited to join. Details: contact Father Xavier at 601-362-1888 or xavieramirtham@gmail.com .
– St. Peter Cathedral, Save the Date, Fall Gala, Saturday, November 11. Details: church office (601) 969-3125.
– St. Richard Special Kids Golf Tournament, Thursday, October 5, Deerfield Golf Club, Canton. Sponsorships, golfer, and donation opportunities are available. Raffle tickets for a Mother’s Day Weekend in Florida are being sold as part of this event. Tickets are available at St. Richard Church and School offices for $5, or five tickets for $20. Details: Shannon Garner at (601) 366-2335, garner@saintrichard.com or visit www.saintrichard.com.
– St. Richard Bereavement Support Group will meet on Thursday, September 14, at 6:30 p.m. in the Mercy Room. Parishioner Cathy Reynolds, who has lost several loved ones, including her husband, will speak on “The Fear Part of Grief.” Details: Suzie Cranston 601-982-5464, Linda Lalor 601-853-8840, or Nancy McGhee 601-942-2078, or email ncmcghee@bellsouth.net.
– St. Therese, Feast Day and Heritage Celebration, Sunday, October 1, at Camp Garaywa in Clinton. Committees are needed to help plan/set up for the pot luck, plan the liturgy and music, as well and plan activities for all ages. Details: church office (601) 372-4481.
MERIDIAN St. Joseph and St. Patrick, Family Fun Night sponsored by Knights of Columbus, Saturday, September 30 at 6 p.m. after Mass in the Family Life Center. Food, fellowship, music and more. Details: parish office (601) 693-1321.
YAZOO CITY St. Mary, St. Mary and the Saints Course, Saturday, September 23 and continuing each third Saturday of the month, 10 a.m. – noon Details: (662) 746-1680.

YOUTH EVENTS

BROOKHAVEN St. Francis, Cookout at Joe and Linda Moaks’ farm for Young Catholic Group, Sunday, September 24 at 4 p.m. Details: Amy Valentine at (601) 833-1799.
CLEVELAND Delta State University, “Adopt” a DSU student, Catholics come to DSU from other states and countries and sometimes needs a ride to Mass, a home-cooked meal or information about a car repair. Details: Hunter Pugh, campus minister at (662) 902-1669.
MADISON St. Joseph School, save the day, annual Open House, Sunday, November 5, a student-inspired, performance-filled showcase with incredible art, academics, theater, music and athletics. Details: (601) 898-4800.
MERIDIAN St. Joseph and St. Patrick, First Friday Night 5th Quarter for all nine – 12th graders, Friday, September 22, 9:30 – 11:30 p.m. in the Family Life Center for food, fun and fellowship. Details: parish office (601) 693-1321.

Deacons, Lay Ministers make retreat together

Posted on by
Reply

LOUISVILLE – Deacons Ted Schreck and John McGregor; Paula Fulton, Lay Ecclesial Minister for Louisville Sacred Heart, and Deacon Jeff Artigues, take notes at their retreat. (Photo by Pam Minninger.)

By Maureen Smith
JACKSON – Lay Ecclesial Ministers (LEMs) and deacons from the Diocese of Jackson made a retreat Wednesday, August 23-26 at Lake Tiak O’Kahata. This is the first time the two groups have retreated together, but probably not the last.
The Diocese of Jackson has a committee for continuing formation that helps make spiritual and educational opportunities available to its ministers. This group planned the gathering. Deacons and priests are required to make a retreat annually while LEMs are strongly encouraged to do so. The priests usually make their retreat during the Easter season. The diocese used to offer a retreat for LEMs, but the practice had fallen off in recent years.
Committee members thought gathering the lay ministers and deacons would be good for both groups. Deacon James Keating from the Institute for Priestly Formation at Creighton University led the retreat with the theme interior life and ministry.
“We talked a lot about contemplative prayer,” said Pam Minninger, LEM at Gluckstadt St. Joseph Parish. She said Deacon Keating used the analogy of training a puppy to sit. “When we get to a point in prayer that’s hard, we don’t stay long enough to let God sit, stay and heal. He used heal instead of heel for the image,” she explained. “He told us we need to bring our hurts and needs to God and sit with him long enough to let him reveal to us where they are coming from and let God pour himself into those hurts,” she added.
The retreat itself was structured to let the participants do just that. The group took breaks for contemplation, daily Mass and attended Eucharistic Adoration every night. “Deacon Keating gave us what we needed to dig deeper into ourselves,” Janice Stansell, LEM for Crystal Springs St. John Parish. She said attending adoration with her fellow ministers was especially moving.
“This let us take some time to gather what we need to do the work of Jesus in the church,” said Stansell. She said she truly appreciated that the gathering was entirely for spiritual enrichment. Stansell likes the workshops and meetings she has with fellow ministers, but thinks this kind of gathering is essential. “We don’t see each other all the time, and when we do we are usually in ‘work mode,’” she explained.
Deacon John McGregor agreed. He said it was good for the deacons and lay ministers to hear about one another’s ministries and get to know the “reality of the Catholic Church in Mississippi,” particularly the difference between larger and smaller parishes. “It was good for us to hear about the whole character of the Diocese of Jackson,” said the deacon, who is working with the diocese on putting together a new class of deacon candidates.
He also found the theme of the retreat to be a good reminder for his prayer life. “We do need to sit in prayer, but we are thinking, ‘I need to mow the lawn, I need to call that lady back.’ All those things rob us of our prayer, so one of the things we have to discipline ourselves to do is to stay in prayer,” he said.
“This was probably the best retreat I have been to in a long time,” said Deacon Denzil Lobo, who also the ecclesial minister for Jackson Christ the King Parish. He and five other men were ordained as permanent deacons a little more than a year ago. They had all spent five years in formation for ordination, which included some intense theological studies. “This retreat offered nothing academic. It was purely spiritual development,” he said. “It gave us time to work on our spirituality, to reflect on how to be leaders and how to minister,” he added.
One of the questions he found enlightening was when Deacon Keating asked “how do you help people let Jesus love them?” He also enjoyed being with his fellow deacons and lay ministers. He just began working at Christ the King so he was able to build some relationships with other ecclesial ministers.
Everyone interviewed for the story hopes the retreat becomes an annual tradition for the diocese and all expressed thanks to Bishop Joseph Kopcaz and the other priests who celebrated Masses during the week.

LOUISVILLE – Deacons Ted Schreck and John McGregor; Paula Fulton, Lay Ecclesial Minister for Louisville Sacred Heart, and Deacon Jeff Artigues, take notes at their retreat. (Photo by Pam Minninger.)

September offers new start for catechists

Posted on by
Reply

Kneading Faith
By Fran Levelle
There is so much to celebrate in September, kids are back in school, it’s football season, cooler temperatures return, and formation programs in our parishes get re-energized. For those of us in formational ministries (RCIA, adult faith formation, religious education, youth ministry and campus ministry) we have spent the summer planning for the new academic year. And, like the first college football game of the season, we too memorialize the return to formation programs in our own special way.
In 1971, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) designated the third Sunday of September to call forth and commission catechists in our parishes. The Church in the U.S. has been celebrating Catechetical Sunday ever since. As part of the recognition of the role of catechist in the life of the Church the USCCB also develops a theme and other useful materials. This year’s theme is, “Living as Missionary Disciples.”


No doubt, the Holy Spirit guided the bishop in their discernment of this year’s theme. I can’t imagine a more timely and needed reminder of our call to live the good news of the Gospel. If you are like me I am certain this poignant message was not lost on you as images of East Texas filled the airwaves witnessing neighbors helping neighbors and strangers helping strangers. In a catastrophic event like the massive flooding in Houston creed, color, gender, age and economic status are not factors in who gets spared by a storm or who gets saved. I am reminded that we can preach by our actions much more effectively than we can preach with mere words alone. Our response should be immediate and as generous as possible.
In the same way, our response to our call to live our lives as missionary disciples should be immediate (as in every day) and generous (as in not counting the cost). Our missionary discipleship should not be the best kept secret at our schools, our parishes or our homes. Our missionary call to lead, to teach, to proclaim and to live as disciples of Christ should be manifested in a way that others want to experience the joy we possess.
As your catechist are called forth to be commissioned and blessed this year, I encourage you to ask yourself what it is you can do in your own way to help them fulfill their role as catechist, RCIA team members, youth ministers, campus ministers, and directors and coordinators of religious education. No one is asked to do everything, but we can all do something.
My hope is that the USCCB’s catechetical theme becomes much more than merely a theme this year. My hope is that we can all see the many and varied ways we are called to live out our missionary discipleship.
In that spirit, the diocese invites everyone involved in faith formation to a day of spiritual and educational enrichment modeled after the new Pastoral Priorities. Faith Formation Day is set for Saturday, Sept. 30, at Madison St. Joseph School from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Keynote presenters include Jim Schellman, former Director at the North American Forum on the Catechumenate, who will speak on inspiring discipleship and the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults. Father Joseph Brown, SJ, professor at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, IL will speak on diversity. Bishop Joseph Kopacz will round out the day with the closing talk on serving others.
During breakout sessions, Father. Jason Johnston, will present a session on youth liturgy; Jessica McMillan is offering a breakout called creative catechesis; Wes Williams, is set to speak on adult faith formation; Father. Joseph Brown will present, ”Plenty Good Room: Thoughts on Hospitality, Diversity and Being Catholic!;” and, Jim Schellman will present, “Evangelization the Mission, Initiation the Job Description.” A $10 registration fee includes lunch. To register or get more information, contact Fran Lavelle at 601-960-8473 or fran.lavelle@jacksondiocese.org
One of my favorite 45 records from my youth was “See You in September,” by the Happenings. I am certain I lifted it from my older brother’s collection. The lyrics express the hopes of a young man, who, facing separation from his girlfriend for the summer, reminds her that he’ll see her in September unless he loses her to a summer love. For sure, it is a love song, but the lyrics always made me think of the other reunions I looked forward to going back to school.
September, like January, can be a hard reset for activities and routines that we want to be more intentional about. It can be a time to recommit ourselves to living our faith in a more profound way. You may have taken a break from “active ministry” or you may be a pew jockey that comes to Mass on Sunday but has little involvement in the life of the Church. It’s not too late to see where your call to living missionary discipleship leads you. Wherever you find yourself, rest assured, we in formational ministries are looking forward to seeing you in September.
(Fran Lavelle is the Director of the Office of Faith Formation for the Diocese of Jackson)

Survivors of sisters killed in Mississippi continue duo’s ‘ministry of presence’

Posted on by
Reply

by Dan Stockman, Aug. 24, 2017 in Spirituality (reprinted with permission by Global Sisters Report, globalsistersreport.org, original with pictures can be found here)

The sun was rising on an early March morning in 2016, and Rosemarie Merrill was in the driveway, getting ready to leave for the long trek from Durant, Mississippi, to her home near Boston.

She had been visiting her sister, Sr. Paula Merrill, a member of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in Kentucky, and Paula’s housemate, co-worker and friend, Sr. Margaret Held of the School Sisters of St. Francis in Milwaukee.

“Paula brought me my coffee and Margaret brought me blueberry muffins she made,” Merrill said. “Them, standing in the driveway, waving goodbye. That’s my last memory of them, and no one’s going to take that away from me.”

Months later, the motherhouses of the two sisters got the news: On the afternoon of Aug. 25, police checked on the sisters when they did not show up at the medical clinic where they worked in nearby Lexington. They found signs of a break-in and entered the house to find Held and Merrill had been killed.

Held and Merrill had become what Jesuit Fr. James Martin would later call “martyrs of charity.” They were both 68.

In Nazareth, the leadership team called the sisters together in the chapel and shared the news.

“Our individual and community grief flowed in and out of each other,” Sr. Susan Gatz, the congregation’s president, wrote. “Our minds scrambled to make sense of it … no use. Our hearts ached.”

Less than 48 hours later, police arrested Rodney Earl Sanders, 46, of Kosciusko, a town about 18 miles east of Durant. He remains held without bond, preliminarily charged with two counts of capital murder as well as burglary and grand larceny for allegedly stealing one of the sisters’ cars. The sisters had reportedly been stabbed to death.

Holmes County court officials said a grand jury is expected to deliver its decision in September or October on whether there is enough evidence to put Sanders to trial. If so, he will be formally charged and a trial date will likely be set for next year. The district attorney has not said whether she will seek the death penalty for Sanders; both congregations have stated their opposition to it.

Though Held and Merrill had been in the impoverished town of Durant, population about 2,700, for six years, they had been ministering to those made poor for some 30 years, mostly in Mississippi. In May, a stone monument with their pictures on it was placed in a Durant park honoring their service.

They were posthumously inducted into the Nightingale Hall of Fame, sponsored by the Mississippi Nurses’ Association and the Mississippi Nurses’ Foundation, and a scholarship at the Mississippi University for Women, where both received nursing degrees, was established in their names. The award will be presented to a graduate nursing student who works in an underserviced or needy area or who is active in charitable or community service work.

The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth will hold a Mass in Merrill’s honor at 10:30 a.m. EDT Aug. 25, which can be viewed via a live webcast. The School Sisters of St. Francis held a prayer service in Held’s honor Aug. 23.

A lifelong bond with the School Sisters

Beth Bacik saw Held, her younger sister, in Milwaukee just a few weeks before Held died. Held was home in Milwaukee for a spirituality conference but took time to visit all the elderly sisters in the motherhouse because she didn’t get back to Milwaukee often and feared it might be the last time she saw them before they died, Bacik said.

Bacik has always been close to the School Sisters of St. Francis, and not only because her sister joined the order. The School Sisters educated both of their parents, and all six daughters went to the sisters’ grade school. Held and Bacik both attended their high school, and Bacik attended their Alverno College.

Whenever Bacik visited the motherhouse, it always felt like home because of her many years spent with the sisters. But after Held’s death, she became even closer to the community. After the All Saints’ Day Mass, the choir director asked if she sang.

“I said, ‘I was taught by the School Sisters of St. Francis. Of course I sing!’ ” Bacik said, and that sealed her membership in the choir. “One bad thing happens, and then you find something good in it. We have a larger family now.”

In addition to choir rehearsals and singing for Mass, Bacik also traveled with several sisters to Durant in May for the dedication of the monument honoring Held and Merrill’s work.

The night before the dedication, sisters from both communities as well as relatives of Held and Merrill had dinner with a local parishioner, who also happened to be the real estate agent handling the sale of the sisters’ house, which belonged to Rosemarie Merrill and Rosemarie’s son, David. As the real estate agent, he had a key, and some of those gathered decided to visit the home the next morning.

“I knew I was going to go in, but others weren’t sure,” Bacik said. Though the crime scene had been cleaned so the house could be sold, some were not sure they wanted to be in a place where such horror had taken place.

Bacik had visited Held there eight years before. And when she walked in, she instantly recognized something.

“There was a fragrance in the house that reminded me of the last time I visited them,” she said. “I can’t even tell you what it was, but I recognized it instantly.”

The others stayed in the living room, but Bacik went into Held’s bedroom.

“I walked in there by myself, not knowing what I was going to feel,” Bacik said. “But I immediately felt close to her, being in her space. I just folded my hands, closed my eyes, and this beautiful feeling of peace just washed over me.

“It was so beautiful and intense. I thought, ‘This is a holy place, a sacred place.’ I felt like it was a holy chapel or a church.”

‘Paula was doing what she loved’

Sr. Adeline Fehribach was the Sisters of Charity’s provincial at the time Merrill died and delivered a reflection at her funeral Mass.

Merrill did much more than just treat the sick, Fehribach told the mourners. She listened to their stories, she prayed for them, she wept for them, and she worked for others to hear the cry of people who live in poverty, as well.

“She listened with love, knowing that she was encountering the suffering Christ, and then she would bring her experience of the suffering Christ to prayer, where she would sometimes weep over her own Jerusalem of Holmes County, Mississippi,” she said.

Those encounters with Christ also would have shaped her reaction to the perpetrator of the crime against her, Fehribach said.

“As strange as it may sound to those who did not know Paula, if Paula could meet the person who killed her, she would not focus on what the person had done to her. Her heart would be broken at what had happened to her friend Margaret, and she may even have to work at getting over her anger at the fact that her patients had lost their one lifeline to a better quality of life,” she said.

“But as she worked through her pain and anger at the harm done to others, I believe she would look upon the one who caused all the harm and see in that face the suffering Christ, as well,” Fehribach added. “I can almost hear her say with compassion, ‘What kind of violence did you experience that could allow you to do what you have done to me, to my friend, and to this community? Who hurt you that much? How can I help you let go of some of that pain?’ ”

Fehribach said in an email interview with Global Sisters Report that she initially asked God why something like this would happen, especially when there are so few sisters to take their place.

“I came to the realization that the sister who experienced such a violent death probably would have been an active sister working on the margins,” Fehribach wrote. “Consolation came with knowing that Paula was doing what she loved with the people whom she loved and who loved her back.”

Holmes County can a painful place, Rosemarie Merrill said. When she would visit her sister and Held in Durant, she never failed to be shocked by the abject poverty she witnessed.

“Paper shacks. Metal shacks. Houses with very few windows. It was just awful,” Merrill said.

Though she is deeply grieved by the loss, Merrill said she focuses on the incredible joy the sisters brought to everyone they met.

“They were just fun people to be around,” she said. “We would be there some nights at dinner, and we couldn’t eat because we were laughing so hard. I know the people in Durant still miss them terribly — the people just really loved Paula and Margaret.”

Though she attended Sanders’ first court appearance and plans to attend the sentencing if he is convicted, Merrill will not attend a trial. She said she doesn’t want her fond memories ruined by details of the deaths.

Looking to the future

Many of those close to Held and Merrill have said part of their mourning is for the community the sisters served because the two were a vital link between people living in poverty and health care.

But the Daughters of Charity are preparing to help fill that gap.

Daughters of Charity Sr. Mary Beth Kubera said Sr. Mary Walz, a social worker, will live and work in Durant starting in November, after Walz’s sabbatical ends. Kubera said the two have been planning the mission for months.

Kubera, a member of the province leadership council, said the community in St. Louis had already been looking for a way to serve the people of Mississippi, and, after the loss of Held and Merrill, Durant seemed to be the perfect place.

“The work the sisters were doing was really a ministry of presence to the people,” Kubera said. “Sister Mary’s going to be a social worker at the clinic, and we’re looking for another sister or two interested in partnering with us.”

The Lexington Medical Clinic has hired a nurse practitioner and continues to run much as it did when Held and Merrill worked there, officials at the clinic said.

Kubera said the invitation to join Walz has gone out to the entire Sisters of Charity Federation, and they hope to have a partner for Walz by the end of September in time for the November move-in date.

The sister or sisters who go to Durant will already have a place to live: They will lease the same house Held and Merrill lived in, which Rosemarie and David Merrill still own.

“It’s a very sacred space. The sisters made a very happy home there,” Kubera said. “The people will be extremely pleased to know they’ll have the presence of sisters again.”

Sister Paula Merrill, right, and School Sister of St. Francis Margaret Held celebrate the anniversary of their vows at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Lexington, Mississippi. The cake reads: "We Love You Sister Margaret and Sister Paula. Thank you for your loving service." (Courtesy of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth)

School Sister of St. Francis Margaret Held, left, and Charity Sr. Paula Merrill on vacation (Courtesy of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth)

[Dan Stockman is national correspondent for Global Sisters Report. His email address is dstockman@ncronline.org. Follow him on Twitter or on Facebook.]

Come. Listen. Live. Witness. Sister honored for Civil Rights work

Posted on by
Reply

By Kathryn Ziesig
ST. LOUIS – Those are the words by which Sister Mary Antona Ebo continues to live and those by which she was celebrated at a presentation July 30 at the Missouri History Museum in St. Louis.
Music, poetry and acting, peppered with photos and past video interviews with the Franciscan Sister of Mary and civil rights icon, were woven into a nearly two-hour program to recognize Sister Ebo. She’s most famous for her role in the 1965 march in Selma, Ala., for voting rights for blacks, but also known for her groundbreaking ministry as a woman religious and in health care. From 1981-1987 she worked at University Medical Center in Jackson as a chaplain.
The 93-year-old guest of honor was unable to be present, and instead watched the event at home via livestream with a small group of family and friends. Throughout the program the crowd cheered her, with some yelling out “Ebo!” as they turned toward the video camera to greet Sister Ebo at home.
Just as important was the message of how the local community must stay engaged in the movement for racial justice post-Ferguson, and doing so through Sister Ebo’s example — which is brightly illuminated by her Catholic faith.
“This was all about demonstrating the completeness of her life,” said Philip Deitch, a longtime friend of Sister Ebo’s who organized the program. Her example doesn’t solely lie in the the moments at Selma, he said, but also through her leadership roles in health care and even within her religious community.
“You don’t get to sit back and say ‘I’ve done enough,’” Deitch said. “If there’s still an issue that needs work and you can do something — do something. None of us have the right to sit back and say we’ve done enough, and that’s what I have learned from her.”
Sister Ebo was a trailblazer in many aspects. She was among the first group of African-Americans to enter the Sisters of St. Mary (now Franciscan Sisters of Mary) in 1946. She continued that in her ministry in hospital administration, joining then-segregated St. Mary’s Infirmary in St. Louis. She later became administrator of St. Clare Hospital in Baraboo, Wis., becoming the first African-American to lead a hospital in the state of Wisconsin.
Over the years, she became involved in interfaith work and other social justice issues. In 2014, she visited Ferguson after the death of Michael Brown, in which she told others that they must “raise the rug up and look at what’s under the rug” in Ferguson.
Several videos of Sister Ebo speaking in the past decade, which were shown at the program, demonstrated that her words are just as relevant today.
“My favorite words out of Isaiah 55 are ‘come, listen, live and witness,’” she said in a 2006 awards ceremony. “Those were the words that were represented when we as a group went to Selma. … We choose life for ourselves and our people and that’s what it’s all about. The call was to come to listen to one another — that’s where our unity comes from. By knowing one another, (to) listen to one another, and then bring forth new life.”
Father Art Cavitt of the St. Charles Lwanga Center, who spoke at the History Museum event, said that Sister Ebo encompasses “all the tenets of the Gospel. It’s coming, it’s listening, it’s acting, it’s living, it’s testifying. It’s keeping God in the picture as we integrate practically what it is we’re going to do for justice and in education and equality and all those things.”
Others must live up to what Jesus calls us to do in spreading the Gospel message, which has always been Sister Ebo’s example, said Frederick and Teresa Scurloch, friends of Sister Ebo’s from her home parish, St. Matthew Parish in the Ville neighborhood of north St. Louis. Members of the St. Matthew and several other nearby parishes sang at the event.
(Story and photos reprinted with permission from the St. Louis Review, the newspaper for the Archdiocese of St. Louis.)

Kathryn Ziesig | kathrynziesig@archstl.org | instagram: kziesigphoto
Marie Janet Turner, portraying Sister Antona Ebo, FSM, knelt in front of the protesters and police during the play “God’s Witness” at the Missouri History Museum on July 30 during the tribute event for Sr. Ebo. The play was inspired by the events that occurred in Selma in 1965. The play’s writer and director Madeline Jackson said that while the police did not put down their weapons and the protestors didn’t put down their signs during the Selma marches she hopes that one day this will be the solution.