The Catholic Diocese of Jackson  has partnered with Proximo Travel to offer three options to those who wish to attend the World Meeting of Families and the papal visit set for this September in Philadelphia. The first trip, called CCMS #1, is an eight-day trip and includes airfare, accomodations, some meals and registration to the meeting. It costs $2,399.
CCMS #2 is a five-day trip including airfare and most meals. It will cost $1,199.
The third option, CCMS #3 is a 5-day bus trip. It includes hotel and some meals as well and is $999.
All three options include the opportunity to attend the Mass celebrated by Pope Francis. The eight-day trip includes  some sessions at the World Meeting of Families.
Organizers say it is important for those who wish to take a trip to register early. They have to fill entire busses to send them. Once the first bus is full, Proximo will start a reserve list for a second bus, but cannot send that bus unless all those seats sell.
Additional details about these trips are available on the website for the Diocese of Jackson. Go to www.jacksondiocese.org and look for the headline about the Papal visit trip.
To make reservations, contact Kami Laverne at Proximo Travel at 855-842-8001.

By Maureen Smith
JACKSON – Benjamin Crump, a civil rights attorney famous for representing the families of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, drew several hundred participants to the Diocese of Jackson’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial celebration in the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle Sunday, Jan. 11, at 3 p.m. Crump quoted King throughout his presentation, emphasizing the notion that true peace is not the absence of tension, but the presence of true justice.

An ecumenical gospel choir provided music for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial event in the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle Sunday, Jan. 11. (Photos by Maureen Smith)

Trayvon Martin was a black teenager who was shot and killed by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in Florida. Martin had walked to a corner store to get a drink and Skittles. Crump said when he took the first call from Tracy Martin, Trayvon’s father, he had no idea the case would garner world-wide attention. Crump said he will always remember that first call.
“From that day to this one thing I can’t define, I can’t articulate is that sound in his voice. The heartbrokenness, the despair,” he went on to say. Even Crump’s law partners worried that the case would be a hard one to win thus sapping valuable time and resources from the firm. He told them he knew all that, “but if I don’t take the case, who will?”
The firm lost the criminal case based on a so-called “stand your ground” self-defense law, but the national reaction started a new conversation about race relations and weapons in America. “When you answer the bell and God is watching, you don’t know what is going to happen,” said Crump. He said working for true justice requires sacrifice and struggle. “God put us on earth to do something for his glory and God cares about true justice,” said Crump.
Although the Martin case involved a white shooter and a black victim, Crump said he was seeking justice beyond racial lines. “It doesn’t matter if the finger on the trigger is black or white, that doesn’t matter. We must speak up,” he said. After the Martin case, Crump became involved in the case of Michael Brown, an unarmed black man shot by police.

Benjamin Crump speaks during the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial service.

Protests following these cases have spawned the phrase ‘black lives matter.’ Crump said people should believe that all lives matter. He called on parents in the audience to speak to their children about respect for themselves and society, to participate in issues of social justice and to be an example of speaking up for justice.
Crump also had warm words for the state, congratulating the community on the recent prosecution of a group of teenagers who admitted coming to Jackson to harass and beat black people. Two of the teens pleaded guilty in federal court Friday. After the speech, Crump said given the history of racial violence in Mississippi, he and others are pleased to see the outrage the case inspired.
“That’s why it’s interesting and ironic here in Mississippi. You all are going to be an example for these other states of what equal justice is, what true peace is, because it’s the presence of justice that everybody says ‘when it happens in our community people are held accountable too,’” said Crump.  He added that he hopes the perpetrators can change. “We as a society we all have to help each other become better. We have these tragedies, but out of every tragedy there is an opportunity to learn and become a better society. Hopefully there will be redeeming qualities (in this situation) that we will try to hopefully talk about rehabilitation and not just punishment,” he said.
Benjamin Cone and Worship, an ecumenical choir, sang for the event. Cone even offered a song he wrote with his teenage son in reaction to the Trayvon Martin case. Bishop Joseph Kopacz commented on their powerful voices, saying he was glad the cathedral had strong windows. The bishop also offered a reading about justice from the prophet

The Ladies Auxillary of the Knights of Peter Claver attended the event in full regalia.

Isaiah. He agreed with Crump that we all are called to work for justice. “Sometimes in the quiet conversations (such as the one Crump had with Tracy Martin), before the world gets a hold of it, is when God speaks to us,” he said. He also added that when we work to advance the dream Dr. King had, “we still carry forward this dream of God.”

By Elsa Baughman
JACKSON – Saturday, Jan. 17, was a special day for the religious sisters serving in the Diocese of Jackson. By 11 a.m. St. Richard Parish Foley Hall was already alive with the presence of about 25 sisters who were enjoying each other’s company. By 11:30, when the program was set to start, the room was full. The parish was honoring and celebrating the sisters for their service in the diocese with the program, “Women & Spirit: A Celebration of Consecrated Life.”

St. Richard Parishioner Dolores Ulmer (right) greets registants for the day.

In welcoming them, Father Mike O’Brien, pastor, told approximately 80 sisters that they represent hundreds of religious women who have worked diligently for many years building America, Mississippi, and building the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson and now the Diocese of Jackson. He said it was a great honor for his parish to gather and recognized them at the beginning of the Year of Consecrated Life.
Bishop Joseph Kopacz attended the luncheon and in his remarks noted Pope Francis letter for the opening of the Year of Consecrated Life.

Sister Helen Garvey (left) shares the story about the production of the exhibit “Women & Spirit: A Celebration of Consecrated Life” at St. Richard Parish Saturday, Jan. 17.

“The aims of the year are to reflect and always look to the past with gratitude, to live the present with passion and to embrace the future with hope.” There are changes between generations, Bishop Kopacz said. “As one generation goes to the next we celebrate what has been, what is and what it will be in the life of the church.” He added that in reading the signs of the time, we need to be open to the spirit working in our lives, in the world and in the church. “We are grateful and will continue to work together celebrating the past and embracing our presence,” he said.
The program continued with a presentation by Sister Helen Garvey, BVM, a consultant for religious congregations and past president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, (LCWR) on the development and production of the traveling museum exhibit “Women & Spirit: Catholic Women in America.” The exhibit has traveled the country from 2009-2011 sponsored by the LCWR.

Bishop Joseph Kopacz welcomed the sisters who attended the program.

Sister Garvey’s talk, peppered at times with humor, narrated with details of how she came to be responsible, reluctantly at first, of the task of producing the exhibit. The goal of it was to share the contributions of the Catholic sisters and how they helped shape the culture and history of the United States while at the same time showing their vision and spirituality in serving others.
Sister Garvey explained how, with no museum experience and no money at the beginning, she formed a committee from many disciplines that included historians, sociologists, administrators and artists from different parts of the country and different communities to help with this project. The committee was in charge of raising the funds, to produce the exhibit and collect the artifacts from the different religious orders who were serving in the United States, about 500, she said. Not all the congregations sent items to be included in the exhibit.
Sister Garvey mentioned that the Sisters of St. Joseph of Philadelphia, who are developme

Sister Therese Jacobs thanked the sponsors of the program at the end of the event. (Photos by Elsa Baughman)

nt experts, helped them raise one million dollars.
She mentioned that originally she wanted the exhibit to be shown at the Smithsonian Institute but since that was not possible one of the directors of the institute suggested they do a “charratte.”
She didn’t even know how to spell it or what it was. She said she was very worried but one of the lay women in the committee told her, “The sisters crossed the ocean, learned the language, built hospitals, schools and orphanages, and you are worried about a little ‘charrette’”?
(A charrate is an intense period of design or planning activity) So, she set to prepare the exhibit which was hosted by 15 states.
After the last exhibit, the group explored the idea of expanding the exhibit into a documentary of the same title.
The one-hour documentary is narrated by Cokie Roberts and shows photographs, letters, and artifacts dating from the first Catholic sisters who landed in Louisiana in 1727, the Ursuline Sisters and years later the Carmelite Sisters. The documentary also includes interviews with scholars, commentators and anecdotes from sisters working in today’s world.
Participants viewed the documentary and afterwards shared what impressed them the must about the content.
One of the sisters suggested that Sister Garvey write her story of how the exhibit and the documentary was made and the number of hurdles she and the committee had to endure to see the completion of the project.
Sister Donna Gunn, who served in the diocese for many years and recently retired to St. Louis, Mo., commented, “I worked with most of these sisters when I worked in Catholic Charities and it’s wonderful to see them again,” she said. “I am grateful to Father O’Brien and Sister Therese (Jacobs) for putting this event together. I think it’s a wonderful way to tell the sisters, ‘thank you for all the things you have done.” She said it’s good to know that somebody is recognizing their service. “We don’t do it for the recognition but when it comes it’s sweet,” she added.
The word for the day was “wonderful.” Every one of the sisters when asked what they thought about the event said it with joy and all said it was so very special to be able to see each other and meeting others. Dominican Sister, Trinita Eddington, said, “I think we need to do this every year because we don’t see each other very frequently and with time we lose touch.
Guadalupan Sister Lourdes Gonzalez, who serves in the Hispanic ministry at Jackson St. Therese Parish, noted she didn’t think there were so many sisters serving in the diocese and although she knows few of them she enjoyed being with them for first time. “It’s so nice to see all of us together here during this special event,” she said.
Sister Obdulia Olivar, MGspS, who serves in Forest and Morton, said, “It’s a great joy to be here and learn about the history of all those sisters who came to this country before me.”
Sister Therese Jacobs, BVM, pastoral minister at St. Richard, ended the program by thanking the sponsors: the Knights of Columbus, St. Dominic Hospital and St. Richard Parish.

By Maureen Smith
JACKSON – Five-year-old Helena White is back home after a remarkable rescue and recovery thanks to the work of strangers who stopped to rescue the girl from her car, which had flipped into a creek near Camden Dec. 28. One of those rescuers, William Banks, a youth minister at Camden Sacred Heart Parish, said he believes he was part of a miracle and that everything about that day was directed by God to put him in the right place at the right time.

Helena White, center, gets love from her mother Chasity and father Ray White during a news conference about the little girl’s recovery from a car wreck and near drowning. (Photos by Maureen Smith)

The child’s mother, Chasity White, told a reporter for the Jackson Clarion Ledger she turned her head to look at a picture little Helena has drawn and missed a turn on the road. Their car flipped and landed in a creek. When White could not get her child out, she ran up to the road and started flagging down passers-by.
Banks and his girlfriend Jessica Burch were driving back from the Gulf Coast when they came across the scene. “When you looked down the bank you could see the mama, she was screaming that her baby was in the car,” he said. One of the rescuers told Banks they needed a knife to cut the seatbelt. “I had just gotten a knife, two days before, she (Burch) gave it to me.”
Banks went into the water. “I can’t even swim. I was so scared, but the Lord was there with me. I could not see. Someone took my hands and guided them to the seatbelt,” said Banks. He cut his own hand while cutting the seatbelt to make sure he did not cut the child. When he got the belt off he discovered little Helena’s body was wedged between the seats.

Banks

“I said, we can’t get her out this way, we have to try something else. We have to lift up the car,” said Banks. How did he and a handful of others lift a submerged car? “The grace of God,” he said. Once they pulled the girl from the car she had been under water for a long time, perhaps as long as 10 minutes.
“She was blue and her mama was holding her in the water. You could tell she was just getting weak,” said Burch, who was a lifeguard and knew CPR. She and the others on the bank helped Chasity White out of the water and one person started CPR. “About four minutes in, she gave a little burp so they rolled her over and water came out,” explained Banks. “Then she started crying. That was the most beautiful sound, the crying baby,” said Banks.
“Yes, that was the miracle, the sound of that baby crying,” added Burch. Banks said he had no way of knowing what happened after the ambulance left. He did not know the child’s name or where she went. “I did not sleep for days. I would cry—I just didn’t know what happened,” he said. Burch saw a story on the television, including video of the rescue. Banks contacted the sheriff’s department to see if he could speak to the family. Seeing Helena and hearing that she will recover fully eased his anxiety.
Doctor Mary Taylor, chief of pediatric critical care at Batson’s Children’s hospital called Helena’s recovery remarkable.  At a press conference about the case held Friday, Jan. 9, the doctor said fact that Helena was in an age-appropriate 5-point restraint car seat and that rescuers started CPR immediately are the two factors that contributed most to the child’s survival.
The car seat prevented more serious injuries to her body. “While it may seem funny because she was trapped in the car that probably saved her from significant injury from the rollover car accident she had,” explained Taylor. Then, starting CPR restored circulation and got oxygen to her brain, preventing permanent damage. Even the fact that the water was cold may have helped. Taylor said a person is more likely to survive a cold-water near-drowning. She added that some children spend weeks on a ventilator after a near-drowning. Helena spent only days and had to be sedated because she was so active in the days after the accident, an early good sign of her spirit. She went home Sunday, Jan. 11.

Banks still has the knife he used in the rescue, but says he will not use it again.

“She is the same happy little girl that wants to make everyone happy,” said her mother. “We’re very thankful for all the prayers and all the support because it has definitely helped,” she said.
White said Helena remembers the accident. She said she wants her daughter to know the rest of the story— and the people who saved her life. “I was so surprised to see how many people stopped. We are so thankful for everyone that helped. Now we keep in pretty close contact. She said ‘I want to meet everyone that helped’ and I’m like, ‘you will,’” said White.
Banks and Burch offered to host a real birthday party for the girl, since she spent her 5th birthday in the intensive care unit. “It has changed my perspective on life. I just pray every day. I take a little time every day. You know, you never know what God is going to put there for you,” said Banks. Although he still has the knife he used in the rescue, he said he will not use it again. He still gets emotional when talking about the accident. He said he plans to talk to his youth group about the rescue to tell them to be ready for when God might call them to step up.

Money from the Catholic Service Appeal (CSA), sometimes called the bishop’s collection, is used to fund specific ministries within the Diocese of Jackson including Catholic Charities, Campus Ministry, Seminarian Education, mission parishes and schools, the Office of Formational Minsitries, the Office of Family Ministry, retired clergy and religious, prison ministry and the Office of Evangelization, which includes the work done on Mississippi Catholic.
These ministries may get money from other sources, such as grants or donations, but they each look to CSA for some of their operating budget funds.
Schools, particularly in places where they are serving a poor or minority population, do not want to sacrifice quality of education, no matter how much the families are able to pay. CSA funds help them personalize their offerings to the community they are serving. For example, some schools may choose to invest in reading interventions while others may want to use money to improve their math or science offerings.
CSA allows schools to use their allocation of money for the programs they need. Each donation to CSA moves those missions forward.
The theme this year, called to serve, reflects on our mission as Christians to reach out to those in need. In the annual report, the Office of Stewardship and Development explained the purpose and aim of the appeal.
“We are Called to Serve the least among us—those who hunger and thirst in body, mind, and spirit. Through the annual Catholic Service Appeal, we serve so many throughout the Diocese with shared ministries and programs too great for any individual or parish to undertake,” reads the report.
The illustration for the appeal this year is taken from a statue of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. Every year clergy re-enact this scene on Holy Thursday, from the pope to the bishops, right down to the parish priests. This very moving symbol is meant to remind all Christians of the call to be servant-leaders.
In the coming weeks the paper will highlight the work of some of these ministries to show how CSA is affecting the lives of our neighbors right here in Mississippi.
The collection for CSA is set for February 7-8, but those who wish to make a longer-lasting impact can arrange to make payments on a pledge. These pledges can be made through the mail, by phone, in person, or online. The Office of Stewardship and Development has streamlined its online giving options. Visit the website at https://jacksondiocese.org/in-action/stewardship-development for details.