By Rebecca Harris
MADISON – The Catholic Foundation hosted the 33rd annual Bishop’s Cup Golf Tournament on Thursday, Sept. 17, at Lake Caroline Golf Course. Proceeds from the tournament benefited the Catholic Foundation office and the Rev. Martin Ruane Memorial Trust established by the Bishop’s Cup committee in memory of the Irish priest who died earlier this year.
Father Ruane was a big supporter of The Catholic Foundation and he played in the Bishop’s Cup every year. There were 94 golfers representing parishes across the diocese. After a day of golf, 100 guests gathered for dinner and the live and silent auction at The Mermaid Café. The golf awards were presented to the winners after a silent auction.
The scores were very close. A team for Madison St. Francis Parish sponsored by Bank Plus received first place and Natchez St. Mary Basilica received second place. The Bishop Cup committee would like to thank all the golfers, dinner guests and all who donated to the Rev. Martin Ruane Memorial trust. A special thank you goes out to all of our sponsors, listed below.

Plutonium Level:
St. Dominic Health Services, Inc.
The John Richards Collection

Uranium Sponsors:
Ergon

Titanium Sponsors:
Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, PLLC
Capital Glass Company
Rusty’s Boat, Grand Isle, LA

Gold Sponsors:
Acme
Insurance Consulting Group
Bank Plus
Insurance & Risk Managers
Boon Chapman
Lefoldt & Co., PA
Brown Bottling Co.
Peter and Miriam Koury
Capital City Beverages
Raymond James
Citizens National Bank
Southland Management
Coker & Palmer Inc.
Tico’s Steak House

Hole Sponsors:
Allstate, Ameritas
Kim and Gary Taylor
Knights of Columbus Council #9543
Mike and Diane Pumphrey
Old Rivers Company Inc.
State Farm
St. Anthony Catholic School

CANTON – Bishop John Manz, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago, arrived in Jackson Sunday, Oct. 11, for a five-day pastoral visit to the Diocese of Jackson, specifically to areas where Hispanics work.
Bishop Manz, who is chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Subcommittee on Pastoral Care of Migrants, Refugees and Travelers; and a member of the Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church and Subcommittee on the Church in Latin America, came accompanied by Sister Joanna Okereke and David Corrales of USCCB and Sister Miriam Bannon of the Catholic Migrant Farmworkers Association.
His first visit was in Canton where he met with about 50 Hispanic members of Sacred Heart Parish to listen to their concerns as immigrants and about work and safety related issues.
He plans to visit Vardaman, Houston, Greenwood, Bruce, Leland and Cleveland where he will meet with Hispanics, tour some of the farms where they work and celebrate Masses in several of these places.
The Oct. 30 edition will include a story and photos of his pastoral visit to the diocese.

Will Jemison, coordinator of the Black Catholic Office, has some funds to a help pastor, lay ecclesial minister, or religious that is interested in The Josephite Pastoral Center and the National Black Catholic Congress Presentation – “Pastoring in Black Parishes.”
Pastoring in Black Parishes is a series of development and enrichment conferences for priests, deacons, seminarians and brothers who serve in the Black Apostolate. We will focus on the development of pastoral skills necessary to effectively serve the African American community.
Dates: Nov. 9 – Nov. 12, 2015
Cost: $ 200 per person which includes: registration and materials, welcome dinner, daily continental breakfast and lunch.
Where: Hilton Crystal City Hotel 2399 Jefferson Davis Hwy Arlington, VA 22202. Details: Will Jemison, wjemison@gmail.com, 601-949-6935 or 601-291-2462. To register visit at: www.josephitepastoralcenter.org. Participants also need to reserve a room.

By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Society and the church have much to learn from the family and, in fact, the bond between the church and the family is “indissoluble,” Pope Francis said.
Families bring needed values and a humanizing spirit to society and, when they mirror God’s love for all, they teach the church how it should relate to all people, including the “imperfect,” the pope said Oct. 7 during his weekly general audience.
While members of the Synod of Bishops on the family were meeting in small groups, Pope Francis held his audience with an estimated 30,000 people in St. Peter’s Square. He asked them to accompany the synod with their prayers.
While the Catholic Church insists that governments and the economy need families and have an obligation to give them greater support, Pope Francis said, the church itself recognizes that it, too, must have a “family spirit.”
Using the Gospel story of Jesus telling the disciples he would make them “fishers of men,” Pope Francis said, “a new kind of net is needed for this. We can say that today families are the most important net for the mission of Peter and the church.”
“It is not a net that imprisons,” he said. “On the contrary, it frees people from the polluted waters of abandonment and indifference that drown many human beings in the sea of solitude.”
Families are the place where individuals learn that they are “sons and daughters, not slaves or foreigners or just a number on an identity card,” the pope said. “The church must be the family of God.”
Pope Francis asked people to join him in praying that “the enthusiasm of the synod fathers, animated by the Holy Spirit, would energize the impulse of the church to abandon its old nets and start fishing again, trusting in the word of its Lord. Let us pray intensely for this!”
“Christ promised — and this comforts us — that even bad fathers do not refuse to give bread to their hungry children, so it is impossible that God would not give the Spirit to those who — even imperfect as they are — ask with passionate insistence,” he said.
The world itself needs “a robust injection of family spirit,” he said. Even the best organized economic, juridical and professional relationships are “dehydrated” and anonymous without concern for people, especially for the weakest members of society.
Family ties, the pope said, teach individuals and society the value of “bonds of fidelity, sincerity, trust, cooperation, respect; they encourage people to work toward a world that is livable and to believe in relationships even in difficult situations; they teach people to honor their word.”
A video to accompany this story can be found at https://youtu.be/4-9sQIGCi3w

IN EXILE
By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
Some years ago, I officiated at a wedding. As the officiating priest, I was invited to the reception and dance that followed upon the church service. Not knowing the family well and having church services the next morning, I left right after the banquet and the toasts, just as the dancing was about to start. When I was seemingly out of earshot, I heard the bride’s father say to someone: “I’m glad that Father has gone; now we can celebrate with some rock music!”
I didn’t take the remark personally since the man meant well, but the remark stung nevertheless because it betrayed an attitude that painted me, and others like me, as religious but naïve, as good to sit at the head table and be specially introduced, but as being best out of sight when real life begins; as if being religious means that you are unable to handle the earthiness and beat of rock music, as if church and earthy celebration are in opposition to each other, as if sanctity demands an elemental innocence the precludes human complexity, and as if full-blood and religion are best kept separate.
But that’s an attitude within most people, however unexpressed. The idea is that God and human complexity do not go together. Ironically that attitude is particularly prevalent among the over-pious and those most negative towards religion. For the both the over-pious and the militant-impious, God and robust life cannot go together.
And that’s also basically true for the rest of us as is evident in our inability to attribute complexity, earthiness, and temptation to Jesus, to the Virgin Mary, to the saints, and to other publicly-recognized religious figures such as Mother Teresa. It seems that we can only picture holiness as linked to a certain naiveté. For us, holiness needs to be sheltered and protected like a young child.
As a result we then project such an over-idealization of innocence and simplicity onto Jesus, Mary, and our religious exemplars that it becomes impossible for us to ever really identify with them. We can give them admiration, but very little else.
For example, the Virgin Mary of our piety could not have written the Magnificat. She lacks the complexity to write such a prayer because we have projected on to her such an innocence, delicacy, and childlikeness so as to leave her less than fully adult and fully intelligent.
Ultimately this has a negative effect religiously. To identify an unrealistic innocence and simplicity with holiness sets out an unattainable ideal that has too many people believe that their own red blood, with its restless stirrings, makes them bad candidates for the church and sanctity.
In the Roman Catholic Rite of baptism, at a point, the priest or deacon pronounces these words: See in this white garment the outward sign of your Christian dignity. With your family and friends to help you by word and example, bring that dignity unstained into the everlasting life of heaven. That’s a wonderful statement celebrating the beauty and virtue of innocence. But it celebrates an innocence that has yet to meet adult life.
The innocence of a child is stunning in its beauty and holds up for us a mirror within which to see our moral and psychological scars and the missteps we have taken as adults, not unlike the humbling we can feel when we look at bodies in a mirror when we get older. The beauty of youth is gone. But the disquiet and judgment we feel in the presence of a child’s innocence is more a neurosis and misconception than a genuine judgment on our sanctity and moral goodness.
Children are innocent because they have not yet had to deal with life, its infinite complexities, and its inevitable wounds. Young children are so beautifully innocent because they are still naïve and pre-sophisticated. To move to adulthood they will have to pass through inevitable initiations which will leave more than a few smudges on the childlike purity of their baptismal robes.
A friend of mine is fond of saying this about innocence: As an adult, I wouldn’t give a penny for the naïve purity of a child, but I would give everything to find true childlike innocence inside the complexity of my adult life. I think that what he means is this: Jesus went into the singles’ bars of his time, except he didn’t sin. The task in spirituality is not to try to emulate the naive innocence and non-complexity of our childhood.
That’s an exercise in denial and a formula for rationalization. The task is rather to move towards a second-naiveté, a post-sophistication which has already taken into account the full complexity of our lives. Only then will we have again the innocent joy of children, even as we are able to stand steady inside the rawness of rock music, the power and complexity of human sexuality, the concupiscent tendencies of the human heart, and the uncanny and wily maneuverings innate inside the human spirit. From there we can write the Magnificat.
(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser, theologian, teacher and award-winning author, is President of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas.)

By Elsa Baughman
JACKSON – The celebration of the Hispanic Heritage Month in the United States just ended.  It’s observed each year from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 to recognize the contributions of the Hispanic presence in the United States and celebrate their heritage and culture.
For Tito Echiburu, from Chile, who has lived in this country for 54 years, this celebration has a special meaning. “My wife, also from Chile, and I, are very proud of our heritage and what it means,” he said. “We have tried to install Hispanic values to our children, like family, hard work, a good education, etc.
Echiburu, who is a member of Morton St. Martin Center, said they will never forget where they came from, “but at the same time, we are so proud to be part, and citizens of the United States. We are extremely grateful for the opportunities we have received in this country.”
According to the 2010 Census, there are 50.5 million Hispanics living in the United States, representing 16 percent of the population. This figure shows a significant increase compared to the 2000 census which register the Hispanic population at 35.3 million, representing 13 percent of the American population.
Alejandro Banda, president of the Mississippi Hispanic Association and member of Madison St. Francis Parish, noted Hispanics have participated in the history of this nation. “They have excelled in several fields or art and culture, science, technology, politics, entertainment, sports and even in business. It’s evident that Hispanics have had a remarkable and very positive influence in our nation, especially because our solid family values, our deep attachment to our faith, our loyalty and our sense of citizenship and service,” He said.
Banda indicated this month is not exclusively a celebration for Hispanics. “This is a national celebration and everybody is invited. Together, let us enjoy a “margarita” or maybe a “mojito.” Together, we can fill our ears, and delight our senses with the sweet words of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Pablo Neruda. Let us enjoy the spicy rhythms of Salsa, Cumbia and Bachata.
“It is a fortunate coincidence that Pope Francis is visiting our country now. Our first pope from Latin America, let us follow his example of love and brotherhood and let us enjoy this time together,” he added.
The circumstances by which Hispanics have come to this new land vary greatly from person to person. Some came to visit or to study and then decide to stay while others have come through the border without legal papers.
Their achievements are reached little by little, day by day. A minority start their own business, others work as professionals in their field of study, and the vast majority work in a wide variety of occupations, all very honorable because as the saying goes, all jobs have dignity.
Several parishes in the Diocese of Jackson, those with a Hispanic community, usually have festival, dinners and dances to celebrate their heritage in September or October. Hispanic members of three communities gathered in Tupelo recently to celebrate together as a family: New Albany St. Francis, Pontotoc St. Christopher and St. James parishes.
Jackson State University  (JSU) invited officers of the Mississippi Hispanic Association to make a presentation about the Hispanic culture and their contributions to the U.S. at its Welcome Center Tuesday, Sept. 21. Esperanza Velásquez, a board member, was the presenter.
Shirley Pandolfy, an attorney from Peru, attended the event at JSU. Her comments echoes Echiburu’s beliefs that Hispanics provide a positive influence on American culture “with our strong commitment to family, faith, and service,” she said. For all this reasons, she added, “we celebrate this month with pride and renew our commitment to continue strengthening our nation.”
Also in September, several Latin American countries celebrated the anniversary of their independence: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Chile and Belize. Before the end of the celebration, Columbus Day was observed on Oct. 12 which is also a big day in the Hispanic world.
Hispanic Heritage Month started in 1968 when President Lyndon Johnson declared a week-long observance. In ensuing years it was expanded to a month-long celebration.
On Sept. 23, Pope Francis during his speech at the welcome ceremony at the White House in Washington said that as the son of an immigrant family he was happy to be a guest in a country built largely by immigrants.

Veronica López and her family represented Hispanic families in Region V of the United States in the First Hispanic/Latin American Encounter of Families. She is an associate for the Office of Hispanic Ministry.
The pope’s visit was truly a blessing and a great lesson, because the joy and love with which the pope encouraged us to be courageous, to form united families generous in Christ, and to be merciful, left a large inspiration in our lives.
My mom was happy to know that the presence of Hispanics is increasing, that our voice is being heard and that we can be part of the processes (V Meeting, Pastoral of the CELAM, etc.) that are marking history to form and grow families well-grounded, in culture within our Catholic faith that we can pass down from generation to generation.”
The presence of the pope also left an important footprint on my dad, because for him this experience is unforgettable and unique. The most important thing for him was to share it with his wife, daughter and his grandson, and also to share it with a group of brothers in Christ, which made this experience something that can be very difficult to live it again.
For me, personally, to have listened to speeches from people so humble and filled with the love of God, to have shared with other families from the southeast, making new friends and above all to see Pope Francisco so close twice, left me a footprint that will change the history of my life.
I have always known that God had an important mission for me when he gave me a second chance to live, and seeing Pope Francis, I felt the presence of God, telling me, “Here I am.”
Despite my son’s young age, I am sure he will never forget this. He shares with everybody what he felt when he saw the pope: “the Pope saw me, greeted me and blessed me. He gave me his blessing and smiled at me, it was amazing.”

SISTER MARIA ELENA MENDEZ,
Our first encounter with the Pope was at the Independence Hall, where he spoke from the podium where President Abraham Lincoln gave one of the most famous speeches in the history of the United States: the Gettysburg Address. I knew about Gettysburg because I lived there for four years before coming to Mississippi. There Pope Francis spoke on the importance of human dignity, religious freedom, about immigrants, presenting himself as the son of immigrants. He said, “Please, don’t ever feel ashamed of your traditions. Don’t forget the lessons you learned from your elders which can enrich the life of this American land.”
The Hispanic people were shouting “Viva el papa.” “Francisco, friend, the church is with you.” Something very significant was to hear Spanish, both by the people and the pope, to see so many flags flying, among them the Argentinian that fluttered with pride like so many others. Hispanics, in the midst of so many policemen felt safe because the “father,” the pope was present and he was the focal point of all the attention. The atmosphere was of joy, happiness, surprise of what the pope would do or what he would say spontaneously and simply that would make us laugh. He although tired, drew energy from the people that were in the thousands.
To see him closer from first row, both Saturday and Sunday I had to get up early, walk for miles and spend many hours standing or sitting on the floor waiting for those two minutes he passed in front of me. At the Independence Mall, as in the Festival of  Families, in the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul, and in the closing Mass of families, the pope valued and reaffirmed the importance of the family and the need to work to keep it united.
There is a lot to say, but I will conclude by saying that this was a great family celebration in which all or the majority savored a word, a phrase, a sign, a gesture, a moving attitude of the pope and, I dare say, that some people who are not catholic were impact in some way.
I hope it is God’s will that this missionary spirit renew our hearts and inspire us to “come out” of ourselves to embrace what he calls “the culture of the encounter.” The messages are here to continue deepening on them now and then put them into practice.

Editor’s Note: Many Diocese of Jackson families, pastors and groups attended the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia during the Papal visit. The staff asked Group leaders and attendees to reflect on the trip. In this issue, the staff has selected excerpts from their reflections on the meeting, the Festival of Families and the Papal Mass to conclude the meeting.

Barbara Rivers, Tupelo St. James
My husband and I were married on the Feast of St Francis of Assisi.  I have  had  a desire  to see Pope Francis ever since he became Pope. We got that opportunity when we discovered that Proximo Travel was offering a tour to Philadelphia.
It was also very emotional when we joined hands and sang with Aretha Franklin   “We are Family.” (at the Festival of Families) Even though we were from different places in the world, we felt like family. Philadelphia, the city where the foundations for our right to freedom of religion were laid, showed that we can be a people of hope for a broken world.
Barbara Rivers – Tupelo St. James

Cory Head, Flowood St. Paul
This was such a rare, historic event (a once-in-a-lifetime event for many) that we wanted to create the opportunity for our parish to go.  As a Youth Director, it was especially important to me for the youth in our church to have every opportunity to go as possible.
The favorite part of the trip for many of us was receiving the Eucharist that had been blessed by the Holy Father.

Monica Walton, Flowood St. Paul
The message I got from the World Meeting was to celebrate life with your unique blessings, gifts, talents and personality. We are a diverse world and embracing our differences brings us together. We don’t all speak the same language but we can still communicate through our actions. I felt unity through Christ and our Catholic worship with people from across the globe.
The message I got from Pope Francis is that families are a blessing. Happiness isn’t always at the forefront. Times can be difficult. Life can be challenging. But, we can all do something to make the world better. We are all responsible for each other. He summed it up very simply….. just do the right thing. Act out of love in all we do and the world will be better place!

Linda Gamble, Jackson Christ the King
I decided to go at the last minute because as the time get closer something was pulling me to go. I think it was very spiritual because I really couldn’t afford the trip but at the end I sacrified the money and make arrangements to go. And I am so glad I did.
Also, as a bonus, I made a friend-for-life, Mary Hazlett, from Franklin, Maryland, who was my roommate at the hotel where they stayed. We had a wonderful time together touring the city, eating, and attending the different events planned for us. I hope we can travel again together, maybe to Rome?

Teresa Preuss, Jackson St. Therese
It was an incredible experience to see so many people gathered in one place, to hear his message of love and forgiveness, especially to see them so anxious to get a glimpse of the pope, to hear his message about family unity. I like the way he talks about  family and the importance to be together and have an open communication with their children. All families have problems but he says that with love and communication everything can be handle in a Christian way.

Esperanza Velásquez, Jackson St. Therese
What message did you get from the Pope?
Nothing touched my heart in the most profound way than his last sermon during the Mass celebration at the closing of the World Meeting of Families 2015 taking place throughout this fantastic week in Philadelphia. There, at the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the Holy Father expressed his concern for the family, specifically, the challenges this institution is facing in today’s dangerous world.  He talked about marriage, love, and children. “I understand,” he said, “how children can be difficult some times, but talk to them with love, softly and be patient.”  It has not escaped my notice the very special manner in which he loves the children, and how, in turn, the children return his genuine love.  I find it so endearing. To me, Pope Francis is my Holy Father, but, for all those children, Pope Francis is a loving Holy Grandfather. Who does not love grandpa?  May God guard and protect him for many years to come.

Sheila Przesmicki, Booneville St. Francis
What is your reaction to the Papal visit overall? As several people said to me, “Pope Francis is a rock star!” But he isn’t a star in the passing sense of the word. His energy, enthusiasm and “Joy” in spreading the Gospel seems to have stayed with people. He has left a positive impression on most people, whether they agree with Church teaching. His arms are mercifully open to all, with compassion and understanding, and this apparently is drawing people back to the church, even if it is in an exploratory manner.
What message did you get from the World Meeting? Families are churches, and churches are families. Within families there is joy, pain, suffering and healing. If we would remember that we are all brothers and sisters, and at the end of the day we all must live together, we might have more compassion and willingness to reach out and help each other, no matter as family, neighbors, citizens or church members.

Kim Turner,  Jackson St. Richard
I traveled to Philadelphia with my husband and 5 boys, a 13 year old, two 11 year-olds, a 7 year-old and a 3 year-old.
From the World Meeting I got the message that family is so important.  How you react to each other comes from the seed we start in the family.
From Pope Francis I heard we should treat all people with kindness and generosity.  We should respect our grandparents and be there for our children, that families are the foundation of society.
Also on our way to the train one day we saw a priest helping a homeless man.  These are the small experiences that my children will remember, they will have no question on what to do in these situations because they have seen it.

Thomas Turner, (11-years old)
I thought it was really cool and fun. The message I got was be good to each other. My favorite part of the trip was seeing him say the Mass while we were all in the streets and meeting new people

Amy Topik, Flowood St. Paul
Pope Francis’ visit was very positive, and energizing to all Christians, Catholic and Protestant. For me personally, this trip was just the spiritual renewal I needed. Pope Francis has such enthusiasm for his work, and it is evident in every word he spoke on this trip. I was so blessed to be a part of his visit.
The message I received from Pope Francis is that we are all called to be the hands and feet of Christ here on earth, no matter what our vocation is. We must be our brother’s keeper.
Since the trip I made a commitment to be more sensitive to the needs of others around me, and to pray more deeply that everyone I come in contact with can see Jesus in me through my actions.

Ana de Lange, Madison St. Francis of Assisi
We traveled as a family.  My husband Aad and I, and our four children:  Sophia (13), Stephan (11), Carolina (9) and María José (7). I saw it as a wonderful opportunity to nurture and to celebrate the universality of our faith.
The meeting…it surpassed my expectations.  Excellent speakers addressing different topics, all relevant to our reality.  The Youth Congress…the opportunities to provide service as a family to pack meals for Burkina Faso… all that was meaningful.  If I were to choose a message, I would probably rephrase the words of Pope Francis:  “Love is the measure of our faith.” A faith that is universal, in time and in space. Yes, the meeting itself spoke to me about the “UNIVERSALITY” of our faith. Very few times in my life I have been part of such diversity: so many nations, so many cultures, so many different backgrounds, yet all united. More than 2,000 years ago Jesus said to one of His disciples: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church” (Matthew 16,18). Those words which I had heard and read over and over, suddenly became alive when we were part of the many thousands celebrating the Eucharist together.

Aad delange, Madison St. Francis
I think this pope has a mission and a vision to be there for everyone, and try to unify.
The message I got from the World Meeting was that we should strive forstrong and solid family life, the cornerstone of society, and it should be our inspiration to get to a better world.
The message I got from Pope Francis is that there clearly is hope for the world, and it doesn’t seem to take a lot. Try to set aside differences.

Maria delange, 9-year-old
It’s good that Pope Francis came to the U.S.A. to tell people what is good and bad.
At the World Meeting I learned that it’s important to pray the rosary.
What message did you get from Pope Francis? To be nice to others.
Have you made any changes to your prayer or faith life because of the trip?
Pray and try to help poor people. I saw some living on the streets in Philadelphia.  My favorite part was filling food baskets for Africa through Catholic Relief Service.

Carolina deLange, 13-year old
The message I got from the World Meeting of Families was love others. Treat others how you would want to be treated.
What message did you get from Pope Francis? We all have the duty to do good.

Stephan deLange, 11-year-old
What message did you get from the World Meeting? To go on God’s path.
What message did you get from Pope Francis? To be kind to others.
What was your favorite part of the trip? – Seeing Pope Francis.

Sophia delange, 8-year-old
What was your reaction to the trip?
It was very cool but I especially loved the meeting. The World Meeting of Families taught me so much about suffering, three-letter-word, sin. That God didn’t create bad people. He gave us freedom. And other people chose sin.
Pope Francis’ message to me is to love your family not matter what.

By Father Gerry Hurley
What a wonderful and exciting trip. Initially our trip was conceived as a plan to bring our youth to see Pope Francis, but in checking among our youth we found there was a great measure of interest among the parents, as well as other adults in our parish.
We ended up with 17 Youth and 30 Adults on a bus. The best word to describe our trip is enthusiasm. The enthusiasm of the Holy Father himself, and the delight he had in being with his people, the enthusiasm of the crowds who gathered and welcomed him, and the enthusiasm of our group in being able to be part of such an historic event.
The message that I took from the gathering was that the Holy Father was presenting one singular message, it was a message of hope, of trust, of determination. It was the message of Jesus Christ. It is the same message he preached in Rome, it was the same message he preached in Cuba, and the same message he preached here in our United States. A message of peace, and love, and freedom for all people, and an invitation to use all the resources that God has placed at our disposal for the betterment of our whole world.
I find it really ironic that the press and the media in many instances didn’t seem to get that message. They attempted to morph the Pope’s message into some form of political agenda. Their attempts showed a real lack of understanding of the length and enormity of Catholic social teaching, down through the history of the church.
There was really nothing new about the teaching, because after-all it was the teaching of Jesus Christ.  However there was something very special about the one who was presenting it. It was totally congruent with his own simple lifestyle.
One of my favorite parts was being in line for 3 hours to go through security in preparation for the Papal Mass. I was so impressed by the patience of people as they moved slowly along in the lines. There was just something so special about the integrity of that. A sense that we were really preparing for something really large – and we were – Mass with Our Holy Father presiding.
Our group told me later they decided to begin reciting the Rosary as they moved along in the line, I think they may have been a little shy about it in the beginning but as they found others joining in immediately, they were touched.
It is a small world, or so they say, in this instance we met a fellow parishioner in the midst of that whole crowd. She is a native of Philly, and she and her sister were working there helping out both of them were guiding priests to their communion stations at the Papal Mass. She knew many of our youth because she had taught them in school, and knew many of our adults because of her involvement in our parish. It was a great reunion.
It was a once in a lifetime experience, and everybody in our group felt blessed to be a part of it. The only question left now is whether we go for Dublin in 2018. (Father Hurley is the pastor of Flowood St. Paul.)