By Dorothy Balser
Father Odel Medina and one of the parish volunteers, Edgar speak about how St. Anne’s Carthage parishioners live out the calling of their faith on behalf of the “least of these.” (Matthew 25)

1. What does it mean to you personally to put your Faith into Action?
   Edgar: First, I thank God for everything I have received from him. We are happy because many people are helping us. What we have is faith to help others. Thanks be to God that we are members of the church and the church is teaching us how we can help others.
   Until four years ago, I was not very close to the church. After I began to come to church more regularly, I was invited to be in a group. We have something like a parish council in our church called Directiva. Every year they have an election. When the election came, the people chose me as the president. I was very surprised and at the beginning I was afraid. “Why did they choose me?” But I give thanks for that experience. I have grown in a deeply spiritual way.
2. In general, how does St. Anne’s show faith in action?
   Father Odel: I believe we are in a moment to be aware of God. You think that you believe, you have to show how you live your life. People are already aware that your faith must be in action. If somebody is in need, they know everybody. They try to help each other. If they can do it by themselves, they will do it. But if it is something bigger, the community will coordinate more in response. We have many different cases and the biggest experience was last year with the ICE raids. It was not only the Hispanic people but also the English-speaking parishioners that responded and asked me how they can help and contribute. They put their faith in action. And now, during this pandemic, we are all trying to assist people who got the virus. People at our parish have not only helped members in the parish, but their faith moved them to help anyone that was sick by bringing things to their door. I also suffered from the coronavirus and it was amazing how much they showed care for me by bringing things to my door. I witnessed how they cared, not just for me but for many others.
3. Describe one or two of the ministries at St. Anne’s where faith in action is seen.
   Edgar: The Hispanic Relief Ministry started with the ICE raids. Father Odel called me to be part of the team. We did not have the experience to be a committee or to distribute the help we were receiving. But, thanks to Father Odel we were able to get organized to use the aid we were receiving to provide this help. In the beginning, we thought that nobody from outside wanted to help us. But I have come to realize – thanks be to God – there are many people that care about what we are doing at St. Anne’s. Although we are migrants, people are helping us and we are able to help people with rent, utility bills and food for their table. In my case, I could not say no. I myself am a migrant and I do not know what will happen tomorrow, so I was able to help right away.
4. What impact has this faith in action ministry had on the people served and on those involved in the ministry?
   Father Odel: The people that serve have become more aware of how to put their faith in action. The ICE raid crisis made them more aware, more active, and more generous with their lives. The first person that responded to help the people affected by the raids was himself affected by the raid. He came to me and said even though we were affected, we need to do something. Instead of feeling sorry for themselves, they reached out to help others.
   The people who have been served feel less isolated. The church has been like an oasis for them. They know the church is supportive. Helping the people has made the church more credible.
5. What challenges have you faced in developing this ministry and what kept you going in spite of the challenges?
   Father Odel: The ministry began in the midst of a crisis, a migration raid, and this brought a lot of fear, pain and sadness, so the challenge was to respond in times of crisis, for people the church was the only refuge where they could feel safe. Thanks to the help of many people around the country and Catholic Extension, families could be assisted.
   What has kept us in spite of the challenges is the word of God that tells us that he will always be with us. Besides, the support could be said at the national level for this ministry, in economic terms.
6. What suggestions do you have for people (or parishes) that aren’t sure how to put their faith in action?
   Father Odel: First, as St. James says, faith without deeds is a dead faith. (James 2:14-26) Having faith, praying, talking with God will lead you to an action, the fruit of prayer. So, listen to what God is saying to you and asking for. And don’t be afraid he will give you the gifts.

(Witnesses of Faith in Action ministries in the Diocese of Jackson are featured each month. If you’d like to see your parish, school or group featured, contact editor@jacksondiocese.org.)

MILWAUKEE – Please remember in prayer Sister Antonienne Thoma, OSF, 86, who died May 30 at the Sacred Heart retirement and health care home in Milwaukee. Sister celebrated her 70-year Jubilee earlier this year.
Born in Danville, Illinois, Sister Antonienne received a Bachelor’s of Science degree from Alverno College in Milwaukee, a Master of Arts degree in Special Education from DePaul University in Chicago and a Master of Pastoral Studies from Loyola University in Chicago.

Serving with Sacred Heart Southern Missions (SHSM) for more than nine years, Sister Antonienne began volunteering with SHSM in 2005 by helping Sister Adelia Milligan in the Hernando social service office. Her assistance proved invaluable and she was soon brought on board permanently as receptionist/office assistant. She, along with Sister Adelia, a fellow School Sister of St. Francis, retired in 2015.
During her 70 years in religious life, Sister Antonienne spent most of her time in the Central United States. She previously served in Illinois, Ohio, Nebraska, Minnesota and Wisconsin, where she worked in many areas, including education, pastoral care and administration, and as a disability diagnostician and ministry director for her community of the School Sisters of St. Francis.
A funeral Mass was celebrated at St. Joseph Chapel in Milwaukee for Sister Antonienne on Friday, June 5. Due to the precautionary measures that have been taken by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee to protect the health and safety of all persons in response to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak, the service was closed to all but the Celebrant and Liturgical Ministers. However, there are plans to have a gathering of remembrance for Sister Antonienne at a later date.

By Dorothy Balser
Corinne Anderson speaks about how Holy Family parish in Jackson lives out the calling of their faith on behalf of the “least of these.” (Matthew 25)

1. What does it mean to you personally to put your Faith into Action?
   I always try to give back to others. My grandmother often quoted the Bible to me when she was helping others. I can hear her saying over and over “to whom much is given, much is expected.” So, I kind of got that from her. It’s important that I try to give back.
   When Father Xavier came to Holy Family in 2014, he introduced us to the Norbertine principles. The one I latched onto is something called “self-emptying service,” which is a willingness to cede one’s personal advantage for the good of the community – particularly as expressed in the generosity and discipline required to participate in the structures that support community life. Well there it was – the personal good of the community, the generosity, the structure that supports community life – that’s what Catholicism is all about.
2. In general, how does Holy Family parish show faith in action?
   Since I came to the parish in 1979, there has been a core group of parishioners trying to do outreach. We began by ministering to people within the parish, making sure we touched base with people we didn’t see often. Then sometime early on, we realized we could not continue just ministering to ourselves. We needed to reach out to the community around the church, which is predominantly African American. Many of the apartment complexes around the church were opportunities for us to reach out with Bible school and summer sessions we had for youth.
3. Describe one or two of the ministries at Holy Family parish where faith in action is seen.
   Many people in our parish are involved in faith in action ministries. Besides myself, people that have consistently helped the ministries grow are Joyce Adams, Ann Pullum and Gladys Russell. One of the ways we have reached out is through the faith formation and liturgy committees joining together to adopt the local Green Elementary School. We started taking little packets of school supplies to the school and began inviting students to our Black History Month program at church. We had a youth choir and a boy’s dance group and their parents also came to participate, most of whom are not Catholic.
   The other ministry is our food pantry. The diocese sent out a call for proposals to do various faith-building activities in the community. I called the project “going beyond boundaries: witnessing and focusing on life and dignity of the human person” and it was accepted by the pastoral council. So, it has become our theme to go outside the boundaries of the church.
   A number of the people we talked with across the street at the senior citizen’s complex became our first group to work with. As we started talking with them, we found out they have many food needs because their money runs out about a week before their check comes each month. So, we had the idea to see if we could get a little help to establish a food pantry and at least work with them. Funds from the diocesan mission grant provided part of the start-up money for that program. We then reached out to the apartments next door that have people with low-income, and the ministry continued to grow. There are now three apartment complexes within a mile of the church where we serve people from the food pantry. We reported to the parish what we were doing and soon started what we call a “20-20 club.” We found that we could work with the Mississippi Food Network to get most of the USDA food for free, but other necessities that are not on the USDA list, like jiffy, beans, etc. are supported by the 20-20 club, which is 20 people paying $20 per month to help pay for the $450 in extra food supplies.
   We started small with one of the closets in the parish hall and Cowboy Maloney gave us a good deal on some freezers. Now we serve about 40 to 50 families each month. We are still operating during the pandemic using a drive-through method and last month we served 111 families, which was a total of 159 individuals.
4. What impact has this faith in action ministry had on the people served and on those involved in the ministry?
   People at the senior citizen’s home across the street see us as part of their family. They used to call us “that Catholic church across the street.” Now I hear them talking about “Holy Family” and referring to people by name. In terms of the community, we start in the morning with a prayer that we make sure we treat every person as if he or she is a special member of the family. We have conversations in our committee meetings about how we want to make sure each of us is letting them know we are here to help, and we want to be part of their extended family. There are parishioners and also non-Catholics that have joined us through an “each-one-bring-one” invitation, many who come religiously because they see we are doing good things here and they want to help. There is a lot to do and they are a tremendous help with picking up and unloading food from the food network, packing frozen or dry food items, delivering food and keeping a count for the reporting.
   We adopted the Norbertine self-emptying principle as one of our marching mantras. So, the community social outreach piece and witnessing through evangelization became part of our “reaching beyond boundaries.” We started with a core group of senior citizens in the parish that decided they could do this ministry as their self-emptying service. Now younger members of the parish are involved as well as members of the youth group that come periodically and earn community service points for school. The ladies guild is also involved by donating about 100 gift bags a year as a way of letting people know about Holy Family without pushing church on them. Some of the people we serve have asked us “what time are your services?” and so we’ve made a few new friends at Holy Family.
5. What suggestions do you have for people that are not sure how to put their faith in action?
   I would suggest for people that want to do something to first ask, “How can we evangelize? How can we witness?” My grandmother always talked about reaching out to the community and to meet and get focused in one direction. If you don’t have a particular goal or direction, then you can talk a thing to death. I would also say go to the pastoral council meetings, which should be open to everyone, even if you are not a member of the council. See what leadership is talking about for the direction of the parish. Then talk with the people that might have the inclination to serve on a broader scale and will roll up their sleeves to get busy and let the community know we are truly a universal church.
   A suggestion for us as a church is that in order to get people in the parish involved, we have to do a better job of communication. We have to find ways to make sure people know what social outreach projects we have and to continue putting it out there on a regular basis – tell people what you’re doing, what your goals are and how we must reach out to the broader community. We can no longer just go to Mass and go home.

(Witnesses of Faith in Action ministries in the diocese of Jackson are featured each month. If you’d like to see your parish, school or group featured, contact the Parish Social Ministry office at psm@ccjackson.org.)

MILWAUKEE, Wis. – More than three dozen School Sisters of St. Francis of the United States Province will celebrate milestone anniversaries of service as women religious this year. In addition, one lay woman in associate relationship with the community will celebrate her 40-year Jubilee and two lay women their 25-year Jubilees.
These are the sisters celebrating Jubilee this year who have served in the Diocese of Jackson.

Sister Frances Kloewer was born in Harlan, Iowa. She received a bachelor of science degree in education at Alverno College in Milwaukee and a master of science degree in education from the University of Nebraska in Omaha.
In the Diocese of Jackson, Sister served as principal and teacher at Christ the King School in Jackson (1957-1966), taught at St. Francis School in Yazoo City (1967-1970) and taught at Holy Family School in Jackson (1970-1972).
Other service: In the Archdiocese of Chicago, Sister taught at Immaculate Conception School, Chicago (1948-1957). In the Diocese of Des Moines, she ministered in Earling as a teacher at St. Joseph School (1978-1990), library media specialist (1991-2000) and substitute teacher and volunteer (2002-2012) at Shelby County Catholic School. In the Archdiocese of Omaha, she taught at St. Patrick School in Fremont (1972-1975) and at St. John the Baptist School in Petersburg (1975-1978), and served as a volunteer at New Cassel Retirement Center in Omaha (2012-2019). In the Diocese of Joliet, Sister taught at St. Alphonsus School in Lemont (1966-1967). In the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, sister served in the mailing department for the Seraphic Press at St. Joseph Convent, Milwaukee (1947-1948).
Sister currently resides at Sacred Heart in Milwaukee.

Sister Dorothy Hegemann was born in Howells, Nebraska. She received a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics from Alverno College in Milwaukee.
In the Diocese of Jackson, sister taught at St. Mary School in Holly Springs (1954-1958) and at St. Francis High School in Yazoo City (1958-1959).
Other service: In the Archdiocese of Chicago, Sister taught at Alvernia High School, Chicago (1959-1960). In the Diocese of Dubuque, Sister taught at Rudolphinum High School in Protivin, Iowa (1966-1968). In the Diocese of Lincoln, Sister taught at Aquinas High School in David City, Nebraska (1968-1974). In the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Sister taught at St. Joseph High School, Kenosha (1960-1962). She also ministered at Alverno College, Milwaukee, as a teacher (1981-1987), instructional services math coordinator (1987-2012), and math tutor (2012-2013). In the Diocese of Omaha, Sister taught at Ryan High School in Omaha (1962-1966) and Archbishop Bergan High School in Fremont (1974-1981).
Sister currently resides at St. Joseph Center in Milwaukee.

Sister Antonienne Thoma was born in Danville, Illinois. She received a bachelor of science degree from Alverno College in Milwaukee, a master of arts degree in special education from DePaul University in Chicago and a master of pastoral studies from Loyola University in Chicago.
In the Diocese of Jackson, Sister served as office assistant at Sacred Heart Southern Missions in Hernando (2006-2015).
Other service: In the Archdiocese of Chicago, Sister taught at Holy Angels School in Chicago (1959-1961), served as a diagnostician at St. John of the Cross School in Western Springs (1973-1978), and was assistant principal at St. Jerome School in Chicago (1978-1979). Sister also served as a learning disabilities teacher at Our Lady of the Wayside School in Arlington Heights (1979-1984) where she also served as a pastoral associate (1984-1988 and 1989-1991), and as director of care and outreach (1988-1989). Sister served as ministry director in Chicago for her congregation’s United States Province (1998-2003). In the Diocese of Joliet, Sister taught at St. Liborius School in Steger (1961), and at St. Raphael School in Naperville (1961-1965) where she also served as principal (1965-1968). She taught at St. Luke School in Carol Stream (1969-1970), and at St. Walter School in Roselle (1970-1972). In the Diocese of La Crosse, Sister served as chaplain at St. Joseph Hospital in Marshfield, Wisconsin (1993-1998). In the Diocese of Madison, Sister served as chaplain at Meriter Hospital in Madison (1992-1993). In the Diocese of New Ulm, Sister served as a homemaker and librarian at Japanese Martyrs Convent in Leavenworth, Minnesota (1954-1958). In the Archdiocese of Omaha, sister served as homemaker at St. John the Baptist Convent in Fordyce, Nebraska (1952-1954). In the Diocese of Rockford, she served as homemaker for Madonna High School in Aurora, Illinois (1951-1952).
Sister currently resides at Sacred Heart in Milwaukee.

Sister Catherine Mauge was born in Chicago, Illinois. She received a bachelor of arts degree in music education and liturgy from Alverno College in Milwaukee.
In the Diocese of Jackson, Sister served at CADET School, Holly Springs, as musician (1969-1990) and religious education coordinator (1975-1990).
In the Archdiocese of Chicago, Sister served as musician for St. Bernardine School in Forest Park (1963-1965) and at Holy Angels School in Chicago (1965-1969). In the Diocese of San Bernardino, she served as a private music teacher and organist in Idyllwild (1991-2007) and currently serves as musician at the Idyllwild Center for Spiritual Living in Hemet, California (2012 to present).
Sister resides in Idyllwild, California.

LELAND – Lt. Colonel Howard W. Johnson, USA (Ret.), an Army chaplain and Catholic priest, passed away peacefully on March 20, 2020, in Bethesda, Maryland. He was 86 years old. He led a life full of service to his country and the Lord.
Father Johnson spent his formative years in Leland, Mississippi and was born in Washington, D.C. in 1933. Father Johnson attended St. Joseph’s High School in Greenville, graduating in 1952. His studies next took him to St. Bernard’s Seminary in Alabama, where he graduated with a degree in Theology. He continued his graduate studies at Notre Dame University, in South Bend, Indiana, studying religious education. His love of learning later led Father Johnson to earn two Master degrees, one from Baylor University, for pastoral psychology, and another from Long Island University (New York), for guidance and counseling.
He was ordained on May 26, 1960 at St. James Church (Diocese of Jackson) in Leland. From 1960 to 1964, he returned to his high school alma mater, where he was the assistant pastor and high school religious education teacher at St. Joseph’s Parish and High School in Greenville.
Father Johnson enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1964, and attended Chaplain’s Officer School at Fort Hamilton, in Brooklyn, New York. As a Chaplain for the U.S. Army for nearly twenty-five years, he provided spiritual and religious coverage at the Battalion, Brigade, Division and Post levels. He served twelve years overseas, including tours in Korea, Panama, Vietnam, and Germany. He also had posts throughout various army bases in the United States, including at the United States Military Academy at West Point. For his service providing spiritual and religious coverage during his overseas tours he received numerous service commendations and awards, including The Bronze Star Medal for his coverage to soldiers in combat in Vietnam.
When he returned to the United States, he provided counseling to veterans as part of his chaplaincy duties. He worked tirelessly with veterans afflicted with drug addiction, not only as a spiritual counsel, but as a friend and advocate. His gentle spirit provided solace to many.
After completing 24 years of distinguished active duty military service, Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Johnson retired from the military in 1988. He then served for several years as the director of religious education for the Archdiocese for the Military Services, living in Washington, D.C., until he fell ill. He resided in the D.C. area for the remainder of his life, mostly at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Washington, D.C.
In addition to spending time with family and friends, Father Johnson very much liked reading mystery novels and Washington Redskins football.
Father Howard’s ashes will be interred in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia at a time to be determined later.