By Carol Zimmermann BALTIMORE (CNS) – The U.S. bishops’ focus on the significance of the Eucharist in the life of the church isn’t just about on the statement they approved at their fall meeting.
It also is about something bigger: a three-year eucharistic revival that will culminate with the National Eucharistic Congress 2024 in Indianapolis.
The bishops approved a motion Nov. 17 during their general assembly in Baltimore to host this congress with 201 votes in favor, 17 against and five abstentions.
Auxiliary Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of St. Paul and Minneapolis, who was recently named bishop of Crookston, Minnesota, gave the bishops details about this planned revival just before they voted on it.
The bishop, who is chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, said the revival could be a time of healing for the entire church as well as a movement of evangelization and a reawakening of understanding of the sacrament of the Eucharist for Catholics across the country.
The revival will officially start on the feast of Corpus Christi June 16, 2022, with a diocesan focus that will include eucharistic processions and other events of adoration and prayer around the country.
In 2023, the emphasis will be on parishes and resources aimed at increasing Catholics’ understanding of what the Eucharist really means.
Part of the impetus prompting this effort was a Pew study in the fall of 2019 that showed just 30% of Catholics understand the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
Bishop Cozzens noted the price tag for the National Eucharistic Congress – $28 million – is expensive, but said it is worth it and can be doable with fundraising.
He said many apostolates and ministries are donating time and resources to help make the eucharistic revival a reality. Some bishops questioned the cost of the congress that wraps up this venture, but others spoke about the potential this will have to bring Catholics back to the church and bring those in the church to a deeper sense of devotion and a stronger faith.
Bishop Cozzens pointed out that such large-scale church events can be transformative and said the National Eucharistic Congress may end up being something the Catholic Church revisits 10 years from now.
Blessed Carlo Acutis will be the patron for the first year of the revival. The Italian teen, who was beatified in October 2020, died of leukemia in 2006 at age 15. He was a programmer who used social media to unite many people and spread Christian values.
In his apostolic letter proclaiming the youth “blessed,” Pope Francis said he “cultivated a friendship with our Lord Jesus, placing the Eucharist and the witness of charity at the center of his life.”
By Carol Zimmermann BALTIMORE (CNS) – Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States, spoke to the U.S. bishops Nov. 16 about the importance of listening to people in the church and being open to the work of the Holy Spirit. He addressed the bishops on the first day of two days of public sessions at their fall general assembly Nov. 15-18 in Baltimore.
The archbishop noted that he has been in the role of apostolic nuncio for five years and has been on a journey with the U.S. bishops through challenges of religious disaffiliation, the sexual abuse crisis, increasing secularization, polarization within the nation and the church, and most recently the global pandemic.
He quickly jumped into discussing a topic fresh on the bishops’ minds from hearing about it the previous night at their opening Mass and one they will continue discussing in preparation for an upcoming world Synod of Bishops: synodality.
“I believe that synodality is an answer to the challenges of our time and to the confrontation, which is threatening to divide this country, and which also has its echoes in the church,” Archbishop Pierre said.
Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, speaks Nov. 16, 2021, during a session of the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is the first in-person bishops’ meeting since 2019. (CNS photo/Bob Roller)
“It seems that many are unaware they are engaged in this confrontation, staking out positions, rooted in certain truths but which are isolated in the world of ideas and not applied to the reality of the lived faith experience of the people of God in their concrete situations,” he said.
To define this often-repeated word in church circles today, the nuncio explained what it is not. He said synodality is not “a meeting about meetings” and went a step further to jokingly say: “If that were the case, we would certainly be in one of the lower rings of hell in Dante’s ‘Inferno.’”
He stressed that the term – and what the church is engaged in right now in the listening phase in preparation for the 2023 synod – goes beyond the physical act of hearing people to actually being close to them.
For the bishops, he said, this process should start at home by listening to each other. “The church needs this attentive listening now more than ever if she is to overcome the polarization facing this country,” he said.
The bishops’ act of listening also is a means of leading by example to help U.S. Catholics be missionary disciples engaged in their own listening and discernment that he said should be a “way of life” in families, parishes, dioceses and on the periphery.
But for all this to happen, there also has to be overall unity because, he said, “a divided church will never lead people to where it should be.”
Throughout his half-hour address to the bishops, the nuncio continued to drive home the message that more needs to be done to bring the church to where it should be.
For example, when he mentioned that the church “should be unapologetically pro-life,” he stressed the need to look at causes and factors that lead women to seek abortions and then to reach out in practical ways to mothers in need. Along that same line, he said the church needs to address racism and should go further with that by acknowledging “the lived reality” many in the church experience each day.
Also, regarding the Eucharist, he said people can have theological ideas about the Eucharist, which are important, but “none of these ideas compare with the reality of the eucharistic mystery, which needs to be discovered and rediscovered through the practical experience of the church, living in communion, particularly in this time of pandemic.”
The nuncio, hinting at a topic the bishops planned to address in their discussion of their proposed statement on the Eucharist, said many can “miss the true encounter” of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
He also noted that there is “the temptation to treat the Eucharist as something to be offered to the privileged few rather than to seek to walk with those whose theology or discipleship is falling short, assisting them to understand and appreciate the gift of the Eucharist, and helping them to overcome their difficulties.”
Looking back and ahead, the archbishop, who was appointed U.S. nuncio in April 2016, reiterated that he and the bishops had “been on the road together for more than five years” and that they would journey forward, in unity, by “listening to one another and to the Spirit and walking with our brothers and sisters.”
“We will emerge from the present crises together,” he said, “as the church Christ has called us to be.”
LOUISVILLE – Louisville lost a beloved mother, sister and friend on Nov. 18, 2021. She loved being called GP (otherwise know as) Grandma Paula. She raised her children and grandchildren in love and devotion; always showing them how to be generous to others. Paula had a wonderful and kind soul with a great spirit.
She was a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church where she played the piano starting at the age of 16 and played for many years afterwards. She was involved in the ministry of Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), a teacher for the Sacrament of Confirmation and eventually, a Lay Ecclesial Minister (LEM).
Paula Daly Fulton
Paula graduated from Louisville High School and continued a higher education at Mississippi University for Women and finished her specialist degree at Mississippi State University. She started her teaching career in special education then went on to be a 5th grade teacher and later special education director after retiring as principal of Fair Elementary. Her colleagues knew her as a fun and spunky soul, always willing to cheer up everybody.
To say Paula was a lady of service is an understatement. She was heavily involved in the local Prairie Girl Scout Council where she shaped many young girls’ lives and taught them to be leaders in the community. She enjoyed her time as the Louisville High Athletic Booster President and Miss. University for Women alumnae officer. Paula was also involved in the Louisville Pilot Club and served as president. She was also a member of the local Retired Teachers’ Group. Another of Paula’s favorite places to spend time was the Cornerstone Clinic and she was on the board at the Louisville Housing Authority.
Paula loved her heritage of the Daly and Plummer family with fun reunions from Hammond, Louisiana to Philadelphia, Mississippi to Bennettsville, South Carolina. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) where she served as Regent for the Nanih Waiya Chapter. Paula enjoyed learning to play bridge; however, she preferred the comradery with friends most of all. She remained good friends with her childhood classmates and they later became known as the Sugar Bells.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Jimmie Plummer Daly and James Paul Daly. She is survived by her daughter, Stephanie Horan of Mooresville, NC; her son, Greg Fulton of Louisville; two sisters, Theresa (T.F.) Bridges of Louisville and Mary Elizabeth Haley of Grenada; two brothers, Mike (Dorothy) Daly of Brandon and Barney (Patti) Daly of Madison; five grandchildren, Brandon Fulton, Sarah Horan, Bryce Horan, Daly Horan, and Savannah Horan; and three great grandchildren, Aubree, Cooper and Bailee Ann Fulton.
JACKSON – After last week’s article on the death of our bishops, I received a few inquiries about the arsenic poisoning of Bishop John Edward Gunn, which actually occurred in February 1916 in Chicago instead of 1915 Detroit as previously reported.
The event honored Archbishop George Mundelein who was recently appointed as Chicago’s top prelate. Most of Chicago’s “who’s who’s” were there. Bishop Gunn’s description of the event is so vivid that I will let his words paint the scene.
“On February 10th there was a meeting of the Catholic Church Extension Society followed by a dinner at the Archbishop’s house. Everybody was invited to wait over in Chicago for the big blow-out that was to take place on the night of February 10th when the city of Chicago was to banquet the new Archbishop. This banquet was engineered by Msgr. [Francis] Kelley of Catholic Extension.
Bishop John Edward Gunn
“It took place in the banquet hall of the University Club and had among its guests forty Bishops, the head of the Army, the government officials, Governor of the State, Mayor of the City and everybody else worthwhile in Chicago.”
“It was at that banquet that the nearest approach to the wholesale poisoning of the hierarchy and the Chicago millionaires was attempted. After the oysters came the soup and while only a small cupful was served to each guest, before the last guest was served with soup, one hundred men were on the floor or were being carried out. There was a panic in the dining room and as no one knew its cause, everybody was frightened.”
“The University Club was turned into an emergency hospital and I was able to get to the elevator. I was brought down to one of the big reception rooms and gently deposited at full length on the floor. I was beside an Army Officer in full regimentals, a civic authority with a generous abundance of shirt waist, a Bishop from somewhere, and we were all in a very undignified scramble to reach the same spittoon.”
“The celebrated Doctor Murphy had charge of our room and while medical hygiene may be all right in the abstract there was very little time for the niceties or ethics of medicine on that occasion. A bell boy from the hotel went ‘round with a pitcher and a glass and insisted on giving everyone a dose of mustard and tepid water.”
“The man who did not take it was made to take it and the results were instantaneous, but the heavily cushioned upholstered University Club carried for a long time the marks of the banquet.”
“Of course, the thing broke up the banquet and about 100 hundred men just barely escaped death by poisoning. There were about 100 who did not take soup and they remained in the banquet hall to make and hear the speeches.”
“About one o’clock I managed to get to my hotel room more dead than alive and the feeling was the usual feeling after a bad attack of sea-sickness. I left as soon as possible for the Pass [Christian] but nothing could induce me to even look into the dining room on the way between Chicago and New Orleans.”
“The papers of the country and the detectives of every country got busy to find the poisoner. He was a socialist from Alsace-Lorraine, who was in charge of making the soup. It seems he studied poisoning as a sideline to Socialism and he knew with German accuracy the exact amount of soup to be served to each guest.”
“The soup was made a day or two in advance; the poison was added; and Jacques Crones took French leave. On the night of the banquet there were more guests than soup portions, with the result that the soup had to be watered and smaller portions served. It seems that this saved the entire banqueting party from having to attend their own funeral.”
“I was glad to get back to the Pass on Feb 12th where I stayed under a doctor’s orders close to a stomach pump until the end of the month.”
So that is the real story about the arsenic poisoning from the diary of Bishop Gunn. The diaries of bishops provide much history that never shows up in history books or news media. They are priceless treasures of diocesan life and the development of the church in our state, region and country.
We will share much more as time goes on from these unique perspectives of history from the very real men who held the office of bishop.
(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson)
JACKSON – Pope Francis launched preparations Oct. 9-10 at the Vatican for the World Synod of Bishops, which will take place in 2023. On the theme “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission,” the church is seeking input from dioceses around the world, with most bishops kicking off the local listening process with opening Masses beginning Oct. 17.
In the Diocese of Jackson, Bishop Joseph Kopacz launched the Synod of Bishops on Oct. 24 with an opening Mass at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle in Jackson.
Since the Second Vatican Council, the church has held Synods of Bishops, most recently focusing on topics such as the family and young people. This synod focuses on the topic of synodality itself.
“The undertaking is called Synod on Synodality, which can sound like ‘church speak’ when you first hear it,” said Bishop Kopacz at the opening Mass for the synod in the diocese.
“But it has deep roots in our church tradition as a people of faith, as baptized Catholics, as disciples of the Lord.” In his homily, Bishop Kopacz challenged us to reimagine the birth of the church on the first Pentecost, nearly 2000 years ago. With disciples of the Lord Jesus, praying intensely for the faith-filled gift of the Holy Spirit.
“This is the image of synodality,” said Bishop Kopacz.
“Pope Francis wants the church to gather in prayer for a number of months leading into a year and then a second year, so there will be time to absorb all that the Spirit is speaking to the church.”
Bishop Kopacz says that during the next two months, the diocese will be laying the groundwork for the synod process in the diocese – preparing materials and training facilitators to conduct parish listening sessions. Then, to be followed by regional meetings to be held in the first few months of 2022.
“Beyond the mainstream of our parishes, schools and other ministries we will also invite many more to participate through social media platforms in order to reach out to the unchurched, the marginalized and the alienated,” said Bishop Kopacz.
“From across the diocese, we hope to receive a very good response – potentially thousands of responses,” said Bishop Kopacz.
“It will be work bringing this together into a 10-page synthesis. But what a story; that we can understand on a deeper level, who we are as a people of God in the Body of Christ, in the Diocese of Jackson.”
Fran Lavelle, director of faith formation for the diocese, was selected to lead the planning for the synod in the diocese, along with an advisory council. She says that the synod is “not a pastoral planning process, nor is it a free for all ‘gripe session.’”
“It is an opportunity for the people of God to pray together and ask of ourselves as individuals and within our church community where we are being called in our journey together. It provides a moment in time for the universal church to look at the greatest issues facing God’s holy people and asking how are we to respond as we embody the Gospel.”
In their planning document, the Vatican asks that each diocese contemplate two questions: How does this “journeying together” take place today on different levels (from the local level to the universal one), allowing the church to proclaim the Gospel; and what steps is the Holy Spirit inviting us to take in order to grow as a synodal church?
In April, all responses will be gathered and organized into a synthesis that will eventually go the Vatican. “The summary will be made available for the diocese as a very important body of material for our discernment in light of our mission and our ministries,” said Bishop Kopacz.
In 2023 after this worldwide process, Pope Francis will speak to the church and to the world the essence of what the Holy Spirit has spoken to the church.
Lavelle says to begin praying now for wisdom and understanding during the synod process.
“When your parish gathers to listen to one another, may you be fortified with the knowledge that your voice matters.”
JACKSON – Photos from the opening Mass on the Synod on Synodality in the Diocese of Jackson. Bishop Kopacz opened the synod on Sunday, Oct. 24. (Photos by Tereza Ma)
CAMDEN – “There is no truer proof of a great love of God than a great love of our neighbor.” Father Thomas Judge, Founder of Trinity Missions
Hundreds of parishioners from four parishes gathered at Sacred Heart Camden to celebrate 100 years of Trinitarian Missions with a Mass celebrated by Bishop Joseph Kopacz and concelebrated by the Trinitarian priests, Fathers Mike Barth, general custodian of Trinity Missions, Odel Medina, Guy Wilson, Gustavo Amell, Raul Ventura, Alexis Zuniga Velasquez, Robert “Bob” Goodyear; in addition to Father Mike O’Brien of Sacred Heart Canton.
Bishop Kopacz recognized the Trinitarian’s servants’ deeds serving four Bishops before him, Bishops Gerow, Brunini, Houck and Latino, and thousands of Catholic Mississippians for more than 77 years. “We have the spirit of awe, for all what God has done for us … The Holy Spirit is flying above this assembly … because we are children of God. We have a spirit of hope and gratitude,” Bishop Kopacz said in his homily.
CAMDEN – On Nov. 13, the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity celebrated 100 years of their founding. The Trinitarian Missions have been a part of Mississippi history for 77 years. Pictured left to right: Father Guy Wilson, Father Mike Barth, Father Bob Goodyear, Bishop Joseph Kopacz, Father Odel Medina, Father Alexis Zuniga Velasques, Father Mike O’Brien and Father Gustavo Amell. (Photos by Berta Mexidor)
The apostolic Spirit, that Father Judge envisioned 100 years ago makes “missionary disciples offer the fire of God to all. This celebration is the first day of 100 more years,” Bishop Kopacz concluded.
At the end of the Mass, Father Mike Barth gave recognition plaques for their contribution to the Trinitarian Missions to representatives of Sacred Heart Camden, Holy Child Jesus Canton, St. Therese Kosciusko, St. Anne Carthage, Holy Rosary Indian Mission, Sister Mary Anne Poeschl, RSM and Bishop Kopacz. Father Barth also blessed the renovated cross in front of the Sacred Heart Camden Church; and Father Guy Wilson, ST created a ceramic necklace in memory of the centennial celebration for each attendee.
Foundation of the Trinitarians It only takes a tiny spark from the Holy Spirit to ignite a fire that grows into something magnificent. And for the Trinitarians that spark grew into an institution that has helped millions of people over a 100-year period.
In this case, the Holy spark came in 1909 from six female volunteers in Brooklyn, who met with Father Thomas Judge to discuss their interest in assisting Catholic immigrants. They began an outreach program to visit homes and offer what help they could. This was the beginning of the Missionary Cenacle Apostolate (lay missionaries).
Father Judge, a son of Irish immigrants, arrived in Opelika, Alabama, an area with very few Catholics, in 1920. He then began forming lay groups or “cenacles.”
Due to their hard work and zeal for the salvation of souls, the Cenacle was then formally recognized by Bishop of Mobile, Edward Patrick Allen, in 1921.
Today, there are over 145 Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity in missions around the world, most within the United States.
Trinitarian history reaches back 77 years in Mississippi History books recall that Trinitarians first came to Mississippi in 1944, represented by Father Andrew Lawrence, ST, taking responsibility of Immaculate Conception, and at that moment, its missions: Sacred Heart on Sulphur Springs Road near Camden and St. Anne in Carthage.
CAMDEN – Father Odel Medina stands among those gathering for Mass to celebrate the centennial of the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity. (Photo by Berta Mexidor)
With the direction of Bishop R. O. Gerow, Father Lawrence started looking for a place to first build a church, then schools to follow, to improve the lives of local African Americans – this led to a place named Sulpher Springs.
According to Cleta Ellington’s 1989 book, Christ: The Living Water, Sulphur Springs was an extension of land that no one knew where it started, nor where it ended. But there was a Catholic church there, its roof collapsing under snow in 1923, and then rebuilt in Camden with the name of Immaculate Conception of Sulphur Springs around 1927, which then became the first church where Father Lawrence and the Trinitarians began their missions in Mississippi in 1944.
After the church, Father Lawrence and the Trinitarians founded the Sacred Heart Agricultural School in Sulphur Springs for African American youths. The school enrolled over 140 students at one point and was highly praised by the Mississippi Department of Education. Then sadly, the school was destroyed by fire and burned down in 1954.
In her book, Ellington also highlighted the struggles of the Trinitarians creating the Holy Child Jesus’ school in Canton, and how a little, non-Catholic Black girl named Bertha Bowman came to enroll in this school. Of course, this little girl grew up and became the first black Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration – Servant of God, Sister Thea Bowman. In another amazing turn of the history of Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity in Mississippi, the small spark from the Holy Spirit back in 1909 ended up touching the Choctaw Reservation in Philadelphia beginning back in 1944.
From 1975 to 1990 and again from 2006 to the present, Father Robert “Bob” Goodyear, ST has served at the Holy Rosary Indian Mission in Philadelphia. Each Sunday he drives nearly 90 miles to three parishes to celebrate Mass for the Choctaw community. Recently, the work of Father Goodyear was highlighted nationwide when he was recognized as a finalist for the Catholic Extension Lumen Christi award.
In 2019, two Trinitarian priests were at the center of the aftermath of a massive raid against immigrants in Mississippi, Father Odel Medina, of St. Anne Carthage, was one of them. The support they received from volunteers and the whole community, along with their leadership hit the standards set by Fathers Judge and Lawrence years ago.
After almost 10 years in Mississippi, Father Odel has witnessed the growth of the Hispanic community in the state. He views the growth as fruits of the legacy of the Trinitarian founders, ”preserving the faith among immigrants.”
“Father Judge started with mainly the Italian immigrants, here in Mississippi. Hispanic immigrants [are] a new phenomenon and numbers are increasing … The future is going to a pluricultural church,” he said.
“This centenary is a jubilee,” said Father Odel. “I have been walking with all my parishioners, in good and bad times, but mainly with the most vulnerable, it has been a blessing for me.”
In one hundred years, the Trinitarians have accomplished more than just building schools and church buildings, they have touched millions of people from all different backgrounds, races and creeds.
(Joanna Puddister King contributed to this article.)
By Joanna Puddister King JACKSON – For the sixth year in a row, the Catholic Diocese of Jackson is joining several dioceses around the country to host #iGiveCatholic on #GivingTuesday, the week after Thanksgiving. Participating parishes, schools and Catholic non-profit organizations will have the opportunity to raise funds online for their own local needs.
This year, on Nov. 30, more than forty dioceses will join together for the day. #iGiveCatholic isn’t just a fundraiser. It is also an opportunity for the Catholic community to affirm their faith as disciples of Jesus Christ and showcase all the good work the church and its parishes, schools and institutions does for the community at large.
Groups across the diocese are participating in #iGiveCatholic on #GivingTuesday. Advanced giving is going on now, with the giving period ending at 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 30. Visit jackson.igivecatholic.org to support Catholic parishes, groups and non-profits today.
In 2020, the sixth year of the campaign raised more than $12.7 million for over 2,600 participating parishes, schools and non-profit ministries representing the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA), ministries across the U.S., and 40 arch/dioceses across the country. At the close of the 24-hour giving period, the number of contributions both online and offline totaled more than 48,000 gifts from 50 states and 12 countries.
This year, St. Joseph Starkville is hoping to raise $20,000 for two vital projects. The first is to pay the balance for their “Surrounded by Saints” stained glass windows and the second is to update their outdated fire system in the church.
The parish’s previous church building burned on Good Friday in 1997 and their priority is to prevent another fire tragedy from happening again.
In Jackson, the Carmelite sisters are aiming to raise funds through #iGiveCatholic to aid in covering costs of the on-going renovation project in their chapel and other maintenance projects. Crews began working in early November to level the cement and install vinyl planks in the Monastery Chapel.
“We are most hopeful that your generous support of our ministry through the #iGiveCatholic fundraising campaign will help us raise the amount of $47,000 to cover renovation expenses,” said a statement from the sisters.
Secure, tax-deductible donations to eligible Catholic organizations in the Diocese of Jackson can be made at www.jackson.iGiveCatholic.org through Tuesday, Nov. 30, ending at 11:59 p.m.
By Most Reverend Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D. and Most Reverend Louis F. Kihneman, III
JACKSON (Nov. 16, 2021) – In anticipation of the execution of David Cox tomorrow, our thoughts and prayers go out to the Cox family as they continue to grieve and heal from his horrific acts of violence. Their unspeakable suffering remains a heavy cross in their lives.
We share in their suffering. In 2016, two Catholic Nuns were murdered in Holmes County, Mississippi. Sister Paula Merrill, and Sister Margaret Held, served at a local medical clinic. Their brutal murders in the small community of Durant, Mississippi caused shock and sadness.
Even in the midst of such profound loss, the Sisters’ religious communities, their families, and the local church stated their opposition to the death penalty. This response is deeply rooted in our Christian faith and Catholic tradition.
The death penalty is not a deterrence to murder. We cannot teach that killing is wrong by killing those who kill others. Likewise, the antidote to violence is not more violence.
The execution of David Cox is the first in more than a decade in Mississippi. We respectfully submit the perspective and teachings from our Catholic faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that promote the abolition of the death penalty. We encourage and pray for a more comprehensive debate that calls into question our assumptions used to morally legitimize the death penalty in Mississippi and in our nation.
We recognize that the State must protect innocent people from violent criminals. Our State and country have the ability to provide justice and protect the innocent without using the death penalty. At this time in our nation when violence afflicts the web of life, we do not need state sanctioned violence to add to this vicious cycle.
We implore our fellow citizens to ask our elected official to end the violence of the death penalty and to replace it with non-lethal means of punishment. We are called to respect every human life because each of us is created in the image and likeness of God. (Genesis 1:27)
As Christian leaders we call for alternatives to capital punishment more in keeping with our Christian values, the common good and the dignity of the human person.
JACKSON – As a part of National Vocations Awareness Week, we hear from our diocesan seminarians, and the encouragements they received as they began to ponder God’s will and the possibility they may be called to priesthood.
“Father Martin Ruane, my first pastor, was a big influence on me. Father Ruane was a joy-filled priest. A joy-filled priest gives a powerful witness to the light of Christ in the world.” – Deacon Andrew Bowden (Deacon Andrew will be ordained to the priesthood in May 2022.)
“I converted to Catholicism while I was pursuing my undergraduate degree after reading a copy of St. Augustine’s Confessions that I found in a used bookshop in Florida. I almost immediately began to feel a call to ordination.” – Carlisle Beggerly (Carlisle will be ordained to the diaconate in preparation for priesthood in June 2022.)
“I graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from New Mexico Tech. I had a couple job offers after I graduated. I accepted a job as a nuclear engineer, but before I could start working, I needed a security clearance. While I was waiting for that clearance, I went to confession one day, and a priest said that I should be a priest. When the priest said that, I said, ‘No way! I’ve always wanted a wife and kids.’ Then, I left, [but] what he said stuck with me, and I began my discernment.” – Ryan Stoer (Ryan is in his 2nd year of Theology studies, he is scheduled for priestly ordination in Spring 2024.)
“My first memory of Catholicism is seeing the funeral of St. John Paul II on television. At the time I was awestruck by all the proceedings. I had so many questions about what was happening and who this man was for whom the whole world was coming to a halt. I became more and more interested as I grew up.” – Tristan Stovall (Tristan is in his 2nd year of Theology studies, he is scheduled for priestly ordination in Spring 2024.)
“I first felt a desire for priesthood when I was a senior in high school. When I was in college, that desire grew. By participating in, and leading, mission trips to serve the homeless through the Catholic Campus Ministry I realized a desire I have to serve others. The more I did this, the deeper that desire grew and I felt a greater excitement for service to the people of God. The feeling of a call to priesthood became so great that I couldn’t ignore it…” – Will Foggo (Will is in his 2nd year of Pre-Theology studies, he is scheduled for priestly ordination in Spring 2026.)
“I was convinced that I would play college basketball. They say: ‘If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.’ In the summer of 2018 I went to a Catholic youth conference called Steubenville On the Bayou. It was a faith filled experience and was the first time I considered the priesthood. I had an amazing encounter with our Lord during the exposition of the Eucharist. After returning home I started to receive spiritual direction. This helped me to pre-discern my vocation.” – Grayson Foley (Grayson is in his 2nd year of Philosophy studies, he is scheduled for priestly ordination in Spring 2028.)
Please keep our seminarians (and religious discerners and postulants) in your prayers, and remember that you can be a great influence for young people just by sharing with them that they would make a great priest or religious.
PEARL – Seminarians gathered for the Ordination of Deacon Andrew Bowden on Saturday, May 15, 2021 at his home parish of St. Jude. Left to right: Grayson Foley, Tristan Stovall, Deacon, Ryann Stoer, Carlisle Beggerly and William Foggo. (Photo from archives)
Diocesan vocations events aim to give time and space to listen for God’s call
With so much distraction and ‘noise’ in the word, God’s call can be difficult to hear. The Department of Vocations is offering young men and women opportunities to retreat and listen to the call of God. Here is a timeline of what has happened, and what will happen in the coming months to give our young people time and space to listen.
June 2021 – Quo Vadis? I The question where are you going was explored at this three-day retreat for young men who are open to priesthood. Father Nick and the diocesan seminarians led the retreat and gave talks to the 14 men in attendance.
November 19-21, 2021 – Quo Vadis? II Coming off the success of the first retreat, the Diocese of Baton Rouge and the Diocese of Jackson have teamed up to offer another discernment retreat. Father Josh Johnson, vocation director for Baton Rouge and Father Nick Adam are leading the retreat along with seminarians from both dioceses. Young men ages 15-25 are invited to attend.
Winter/Spring 2022 – Nun Run II The Department of Vocations is leading a trek north to visit several different religious communities in early 2022. Father Nick will begin recruitment in December for this trip. The first Nun Run was held in Fall of 2019 and was a huge success. Kathleen McMullin was on that trip and is now a postulant in a religious community!
The Department of Vocations also offers individual and small group visits to seminaries and religious communities based on need and circumstance. Several young men have been hosted at the seminary by Father Nick and our seminarians in the past year. If you are interested in any of these events, or want to know how you could help, please email nick.adam@jacksondiocese.org.
CHATAWA – Father Nick Adam directs an activity at the Quo Vadis retreat for young men open to the priesthood in June 2021. (Photo by Ron Blalock Photography)
JACKSON – November is the month to remember the dead in our Catholic faith. It opens with the Solemnity of All Saints where we honor all those ordinary people in our lives who were saints to us. The next day is All Souls, a personal favorite of mine, in which we honor the dead and, in many traditions, decorate graves and have picnics in cemeteries.
This year was a particularly poignant All Souls for me as the death of Bishop Emeritus Joseph N. Latino of happy memory is still fresh. Because of soil and settling, we were just able to move the gravestone over his plot in the diocesan bishops’ cemetery next to the cathedral.
We have a temporary marker for Bishop Latino and are awaiting the engraver’s arrival in a few months to carve his inscription on site. Apparently, there are only one or two people willing to carve out inscriptions on site on this type of stone. So, we wait patiently.
JACKSON – Flowers and candles adorn the grave sites of Bishop William Houck, Bishop Joseph Brunini and Bishop R.O. Gerow in the bishops’ cemetery next to the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle on All Souls Day, Nov. 2. (Photo by Berta Mexidor)
Dealing with this made me think about all our previous bishops and their deaths.
Bishop John Joseph Marie Benedict Chanche, SS, (1841-1852) died most likely of cholera in Maryland while visiting family after a plenary council in Baltimore. Cholera is a horrible death, but he was described as bearing it with great dignity. After spending more than 150 years in the cemetery in Baltimore, he was brought home to Natchez in 2008.
Bishop James Oliver Van deVelde, SJ, (1853-1855) was Bishop of Chicago and suffered from arthritis. He felt a warmer climate would be beneficial for his joints, so he requested a move South. A yellow fever infected warm climate mosquito got him, another terrible way to go. Bless his heart. He was originally buried in the crypt at St. Mary in Natchez, but his Jesuit confreres wanted him home in Florrisant, Missouri.
Bishop William Henry Elder (1857-1880) was elevated to Archbishop of Cincinnati and lived a long life up there into the next century (1904). He died of what we used to call “old age,” which is a medical term for not one specific thing, and he was 85, which is old for 1904.
Bishop Francis August Anthony Joseph Janssens (1881-1888) also moved on to an archdiocese when he became Archbishop of New Orleans in 1888. He died nine years later in 1897 at age 53 aboard the steamer Creole, bound for New York City. He most likely had a heart attack or a stroke.
Bishop Thomas Heslin (1889-1911) as we explored in an earlier column, flipped out of the back of a mule cart near West Point and was levered back into the cart while unconscious. He most likely sustained some broken ribs, which weakened his lung capacity, and he died a few months later. He is buried on Catholic Hill in Natchez.
Bishop John Edward Gunn, SM, (1911-1924) survived an arsenic poisoning administered by a spy during World War I at a banquet in Detroit in 1915. Suffering a major heart attack in January 1924, his health finally gave out in February at Hotel Dieu in New Orleans. He is buried in the Catholic section in Natchez next to Bishop Heslin.
Bishop Richard Oliver Gerow (1924-1966) is the first bishop to officially retire from the office of bishop in our diocese. He lived 10 years after his retirement and died in December 1976 at the age of 91 having achieved 67 years of priesthood – another death attributed to “old age.” He is buried in the bishops’ cemetery beside the cathedral.
Bishop Joseph Bernard Brunini (1967-1984), our only native son bishop from Vicksburg, died suddenly surrounded by his brother bishops on retreat in Manressa, Louisiana on the Solemnity of the Epiphany. I had eaten lunch with him that very day and was shocked when I got the news he was dead four hours later. He is buried next to Bishop Gerow.
Bishop William Russell Houck (1984-2003) also lived many years into retirement dying of heart and lung issues in 2016 at the age of 90. He, too, achieved 60-plus years of priesthood having marked 65 years when he died. Bishop Houck completes the first line of three bishops in the bishops’ cemetery.
Bishop Joseph Nunzio Latino (2003-2013) died on May 28 of this year having just celebrated his 58th anniversary of priestly ordination on May 25. Bishop Latino’s death is still too fresh to share details, so we will save that for a later date.
Throughout this month of November offer some prayers for our deceased bishops who have served as our shepherds for more than 180 years each in his own unique and dynamic ways. Requiescant in pace.
(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson.)
NATCHEZ – A photograph of Bishop John Edward Gunn, SM, as he lay in state in the rectory of St. Mary in Natchez. Bishop Gunn survived an arsenic poisoning attempt during WWI, but his health finally gave out shortly after a heart attack in January 1924. (Photo from archives)
