By Msgr. Michael Flannery
I worked closely with Bishop Houck and served as his Judicial Vicar for eight years and as his Vicar General for nine years. I can say that he was a true southern gentleman and had tremendous work ethic. He loved his priesthood and serving the church. He lived a full active life all of his life and was in relative good health until the end. He came to the office every day and seldom if ever took a day off.

Bishop Joseph Latino, (left) newly ordained to the Diocese of Jackson, Msgr. Michael Flannery, then-vicar general, St. John Paull II and Bishop Houck in Rome in November 2004. Bishop Houck was retired, but was in Rome with Extension when Bishop Latino made his first ad limina visit so the three visited the pope together. (Mississippi Catholic Archive Photo)

Working as closely as I did with him over the years, I learned a great deal about him. He was a man of a very deep faith and put the Lord first in his life. He was a man of prayer. Anytime he had a difficult problem he turned it over to the Lord in prayer. After his prayer time, he usually knew what to do and he was a decisive man. Once he made a decision that was it.
On numerous occasions when we would be discussing some problem or other he would say to me: “Mike, I need to pray about that.” I knew then that he needed his space to bring it to the Lord. He was a workaholic. He came to the office usually at nine in the morning and he would not leave until nine at night. He worked Saturdays and Sundays.
Bishop Houck took all his responsibilities seriously and he loved to minister to people. At confirmation time which was usually during the Easter Season he would travel all over the diocese, comprising of 65 counties, celebrating confirmations. He liked to have a designated driver for these excursions and he would read every letter the candidates had sent him. During his homily he would weave some of those writings and make the homily personal every time.
I remember one incident in particular. It was right before 9/11. I had driven him to the airport in Jackson so that he could attend a meeting of a bishops’ committee of the United States Catholic Conference. Nine eleven took place the following day and the whole country came to a stand-still. There were no planes flying. He was stuck in Washington, D.C. for four days. He had nothing to do and it was driving him crazy. He was just about to rent a car and drive back to Jackson when they opened the airports again. He was on one of the first flights that arrived in Jackson and was interviewed by the press as to his experience.
Bishop Houck would always say to me: “After faith, a good sense of humor is the most important thing in life.”  I loved that man. I would do anything for him. In a way we were kindred spirits. I am a workaholic and so was he. He would say about me: “Never give anything to Flannery unless you are absolutely sure that is what you want him to do. Because when you look around the project is complete.”
One humorous incident that involved Bishop Houck was the service one year on Holy Saturday night at St. Peter the Apostle Cathedral. It so happened that Msgr. Noel Foley of happy memory, was the pastor at the time. He had ordered a paschal candle and it came in on the first week of Lent. However the candle was broken and he sent it back to the church supply company believing that they would send a replacement. The candle never came.

Bishop Francisco Villalobos with Bishop Houck and Msgr. Flannery at the installation of Father Michael Thornton at San Miguel in Saltillo, Mexico, in 1973. (Mississippi Catholic Archive Photo)

Msgr. Foley ended up with a well-used paschal candle. It was only about six inches tall. I commented to him that the candle was more a symbol of death than it was resurrection. Msgr. Foley called upon the ladies of the parish to assist him. One of them was very creative and took the candle and placed it in a cardboard roller used for altar cloths. Then she covered it with while paper and decorated the outside beautifully. It looked gorgeous and was six feet tall.
Bishop Houck did not know it was a fake candle. There is one part of the ceremony when the paschal candle is placed in the baptismal water. When Bishop Houck placed the candle in the water there was a sucking sound as the water penetrated the cardboard exterior. Bishop Houck began to take the candle out of the water and there was water pouring out from all sides. It was an embarrassing moment for him because he was very particular about celebrating liturgy.
Another story that comes to mind was the time Bishop Houck invited the Methodist and Episcopal bishops and their wives to dinner. Since Bishop Houck did not have a wife he invited me to come as his significant other. The three bishops had a custom of meeting every month for breakfast and they would discuss pastoral issues on which they could collaborate. Bishop Meadows, the Methodist bishop, was being transferred so the dinner was a going-away party. We were enjoying the hors d’oeuvres when Bishop Meadows asked to see Bishop Houck’s upstairs chapel. Bishop Meadows noticed a telephone and challenged Bishop Houck about the phone. Why have a phone in a chapel? Bishop Houck was embarrassed so I stepped in to say “Bishop Meadows, you have to understand, that is no ordinary phone. In fact, it is a direct line to the Lord –and from here it is a local call!”
Even in retirement, Bishop Houck kept abreast with the most recent developments. He was a regular visitor to the Vatican website and the National Conference of Catholic Bishops webpage. He had a tremendous energy level given his age. He had a keen reflective mind and he did not miss much. He was close to all his family members and would call each of them every week.
I will miss Bishop Houck. He was a close friend and confidant and a great mentor to me. I will always be indebted to him for his spiritual guidance and wisdom. I will continue to cherish the memories I have of him for years to come.
(Msgr. Flannery is working in the Tribunal for the Diocese of Jackson, although he is technically retired from ministry.)

Several days of heavy rains caused severe flooding throughout the region the week of March 6-12. At press time many people in and around Clarksdale were still waiting for the water to drop. The Clarksdale Press Register provided the following update.
CLARKSDALE – As citizens try to recover from the flood, relief efforts around town are under way to help those who need it most.
As of Monday afternoon, Coahoma County EMA Johnny Tarzi said around 200 to 250 homes have been destroyed and he said he wouldn’t be surprised if there were more. The water still has to drop before any real damage assessments can be made, he said.

Flood waters have nearly reached the sign on the Clarksdale Municipal School District central office on Friars Point Road. Several nearby residents have evacuated their homes, which are inundated, and other residents who live in the area known as “the circle” can only get in and out of the neighborhood by boat. (Photo and text repinted with permission from Nathan Duff of the Clarksdale Press Register.)

“The river, I’m hoping it’s going to crest today and get out of here Thursday and Friday,” Tarzi said. “We have to do damage assessments, whenever the water drops out of here.”
Tarzi said he sends daily report to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA). After officials can do real damage assessment, the county may be eligible for federal disaster funds through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the second time in less than four months.
Tarzi told the Board of Mayor and Commissioners Monday afternoon that he was optimistic Coahoma County would be eligible for both individual and public assistance, the latter of which reimburses the city and/or county for money spent on cleanup and rescue efforts.
The Red Cross has opened a shelter at the Clarksdale Civic Auditorium at 506 E. Second St. and on Monday morning, Fire Chief Obert Douglas said about 16 people stayed there Sunday night, but that number fluctuates as some people are coming and going and staying with family members. Almost every local hotel has displaced citizens, but the Red Cross doesn’t have funds to help people pay for rooms or to provide temporary housing such as trailers, which is why getting MEMA and FEMA help is important.
U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson is trying to garner support from the governor, said Trey Baker with Thompson’s office.
“The congressman has been in touch with multiple officials in Clarksdale and Coahoma County, and he is fully abreast of everything that is going on,” Baker said.
Baker said that Thompson would support the area being declared a federal disaster area, but that the request for that has to come from Gov. Phil Bryant’s office. Baker indicated that Thompson’s office has reached out to Bryant, but has not received word of an official request as of Monday afternoon.

Ruskey said the water rose just 4 inches Sunday night, but he didn’t know exactly how high the Sunflower River got because the transmitter that powers the USGS river gauge behind City Hall was flooded and stopped working. He said a lot of the water is runoff from flooded fields and he said the tributaries are getting so much water that the Yazoo Pass has started to flow backward into Moon Lake.
Confederate Street and the surrounding area behind Greenbough Nursing Home was one of the first areas to flood last Thursday. Most of the East Park subdivision outside the town of Lyon is under water after a couple of the levees around that area gave way on Friday. Aerial photos of the area show water approaching the roofs of at least two dozen homes.
Lyon Mayor Woody Sawyer said they’ve encouraged citizens, especially older folks, to give him, public works director Larry Cook or any town alderman a call if they need anything, including water or groceries. He said the roads that are impassible, even those blocked with barricades, can make for a treacherous trip.
“We’ll do anything we can to or lend any of our equipment to anyone who needs it,” he added.
Catholic Charities has been monitoring the situation, keeping in touch with Clarksdale pastor Father Scott Thomas and other community leaders. Those in need of assistance should notify their pastor, who will coordinate response through the Catholic Charities Disaster Response office.

By Maureen Smith
JACKSON – A crowd of more than a hundred gathered in the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 2 p.m. to hear Bishop Fernand Cheri, auxiliary bishop of New Orleans speak about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and about Black History Month.
The program, sponsored by the Office of Black Catholic Ministry, also featured the choir from Jackson Sister Thea Bowman School. The children filled the cathedral with their songs and praise.
Bishop Cheri urged people to take to heart Paul’s call to unity in the Letter to the Corinthians.

John Alford, director of music for Sister Thea Bowman School, leads the children in song at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Black History Month program.

“Christian homes should be havens of peace and comfort,” said Bishop Cheri. The peace and unity we seek is not our own, he explained, it is God’s peace.
His own formula for promoting that peace and unity has four steps. It starts with a personal inventory. “Do you have the help of Christ? When we have trouble we need help from Christ.” he said.
Secondly, Christians should consider the pastoral incentives, meaning that unity will make all our work more powerful. “Unity doesn’t mean simply the absence of conflict, and it doesn’t mean uniformity. It doesn’t mean everyone acts the same, thinks the same, looks the same, walks the same, sing the same songs, pray the same prayers, clap the same, shout the same, etc… It means

Bishop Fernand Cheri, auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans, speaks in the cathedral. (Photo by Maureen Smith)

working peacefully together in the bond of love for the glory of Christ!” he said.
The third step is to follow the practical instructions found in scriptures about unity and ministry, using them to purify their motives and practice meekness.
Finally, Bishop Cheri reminded the audience they have a powerful model for this behavior in Christ. “There is no greater example of meekness and selfless ambition than Jesus. He is our example. He is our pattern. These verses tell of Jesus humbling himself on our behalf, becoming a man, becoming a servant, going to the cross. Who was he thinking of when he did this. I love the little song that says, ‘When He was on the cross you were on his mind.’”

Karla Luke, from the Office of Catholic Education, introduces Bishop Cheri.

Karla Luke, coordinator of operations for the Office of Catholic Schools, introduced Bishop Cheri. She is from New Orleans and her family has known him for many years. “I love the down-to-earth manner Bishop Cheri uses when he delivers his message,” said Luke. “I went home with a firm desire to work harder at fulfilling my baptismal duties to evangelize,” she added.

By Bill Graham
City Editor, The Meridian Star
When Frank Cosgrove came to Mississippi more than 50 years ago, he saw some things he didn’t like.
The 24-year-old arrived in 1965, in the middle of the civil rights movement.
“It was a rude awakening, because I didn’t really know anything about it,” he recalls. “But I learned soon, because I experienced it a few times, and that really taught me a lot. For example, I got refused service in a restaurant because I had a group of black and white teenagers with me.”

Father Frank Cosgrove retired at the end of January after 11 years as pastor of Meridian St. Patrick and St. Joseph parishes. He resides at St. Catherine’s Village in Madison. (Photo courtesy of The Meridian Star)

Experiences like that led Father Cosgrove to seek more inclusion in his life’s work as a priest, which is one of the reasons he is the 2016 Meridian Star Citizen of The Year.
He was born in the County of Leitrim in Ireland on Oct. 7, 1940. He was the oldest of three children and was educated at Summerhill College in Sligo, Ireland and St. Patrick Seminary in Carlow, Ireland.
He chose to come to Mississippi for several reasons.
“The Catholic population in Mississippi was small — only about three percent,” he recalled. “I wanted to come to a place where I was needed. Ireland had plenty priests at the time. And I guess I liked the adventure. It was sort of like being a missionary.”
Father Cosgrove was ordained a priest by the Diocese of Jackson on June 12, 1965, and was first assigned to St. Mary Basilica in Natchez. He then moved to Oxford where he became pastor at St. John Parish and was appointed the Catholic minister to the University of Mississippi.
At one time, he was in charge of youth program for the entire diocese, which covered all of Mississippi at the time.
After he left Oxford, he spent 11 years as the pastor at St. Francis Parish in Madison. In 2005, he came to Meridian to serve the Catholic Community, which includes St. Joseph and St. Patrick parishes, along with the Naval Air Station Meridian and Good Shepherd Mission in Quitman. Father Cosgrove retired at the end of January after 11 years here.
He remembers getting a warm welcome when he came to Meridian.
“My first Sunday at St. Joseph’s, one parishioner told me ‘Father, you’re in the right place,’” and the folks at St. Patrick’s were equally as welcoming.”

“Transfers are not easy for us guys,” Father Cosgrove says of the process by which priests are appointed. “But they welcomed me so well. I fit in really quickly.”
In Meridian, as in the other places he lived, he worked hard to take his faith beyond the church walls.
“I’ve always done that, no matter where I was,” he said. “In all my other appointments, I was the same way. I like to be involved in the larger community.”
That meant he once spent four days on an aircraft carrier with sailors from NAS Meridian.
“That was a good experience, but once was enough,” he said with a chuckle.
He also worked with Habitat for Humanity and other service organizations in improving the community.
He also saw enrollment grow at St. Patrick Catholic School during his tenure. The school expanded by opening a new building last May, and plans to welcome its first class of eighth graders this fall.
“I love the Christian values and high academic standards at St. Patrick,” he said. “And of course, it’s open to people of all faiths and races.”
In retirement, Father Cosgrove has settled in at St. Catherine’s Village in Madison.
“I’ve been mainly unpacking,” he said. “And getting furniture, which is something I’ve never had to do before because the church always provided us with a furnished home.”
He plans to work “as needed,” filling in for other priests when they need a break.
“Already I’m booked a couple of Sundays,” he said. “But the difference is, it’s up to me now.”
And although he lives in Madison, he plans to visit Meridian when he can.
“I miss Meridian a lot,” Father Cosgrove said. “I miss the relationships with the parishioners and the community — deep relationships on a spiritual level.”
“We’re there for very special occasions in peoples’ lives, births, baptisms, weddings and funerals. God’s grace really works through us there.”
Looking back at more than a half century of ministry, he hopes his work has been fruitful.
“Certainly, race relations have improved,” he said. “But we still have a long way to go. There’s still a lot of underlying racism, I’m afraid. But I’m pleased with the progress we made.”

Msgr. Michael Flannery receives farewell cards from St. Anthony School students after celebrating Mass at the school. He retired in January and is working for the Tribunal, helping with annulments. (Photo by Dave Vowell)

“The goal is always to bring people to Jesus Christ, and to bring Christ to people. So that’s what my goal has been. I guess I’ve done it in different ways, whether it was with teenagers, college students, or with older people. But whatever goals I accomplished, it was through God’s grace. And I’m not just being pious about that, I really feel it.”
“By the grace of God, I am what I am,” Father Cosgrove noted. “That’s the only way I can do anything.”
(Reprinted with kind permission from The Meridian Star)

The Diocese of Jackson has esablished ten pilgrimage sites in addition to the Holy Door at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle in honor of the Jubilee Year of Mercy declared by Pope Francis. These sites allow the faithful to make a pilgrimage and fully immerse themselves in the contemplation of mercy.
The pope declared certain days to be jubilee days for specific groups of people – catechists, those who work in prison ministry, youth, etc. A full schedule is posted on the diocesan website, www.jacksondiocese.org. In addition, parishes are adding their own observances of the year to their calendars.
In Booneville, Carol Dickerson created a pilgrimage site map, tracing the path between the sites with little feet and including photos of each church a pilgrim should visit in each town. She included information on the jubilee and on pilgrimages in general.
In Vicksburg, St. Paul Parish is celebrating the feast of St. Paul with a pilgrimage day packed with opportunities for liturgy, prayer and fellowship.
A schedule of a couple of events follows.
CLEVELAND Our Lady of Victories Parish will have weekly small-group discussions for six weeks after the mission (Jan. 17-19) in parishioners’ homes. The focus will be “The Holy Year of Mercy” as declared by Pope Francis.
JACKSON St. Richard Parish, Benediction, every Wednesday during the Year of Mercy from 6 – 6:30 p.m. and confession from 6:30 – 7:30 in the church.
VICKSBURG St. Mary Parish has Mass at  6:30 a.m. and a Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help at 6 p.m. The church will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. for pilgrims to visit.
St. Michael Catholic Church has Mass at 8:30 a.m. The church will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for  pilgrims.
St. Paul Catholic Church will have Mass at 7:00 a.m.; Eucharistic Adoration at 7:30 a.m.;
8:00 a.m.    Rosary: Joyful Mysteries
9:00 a.m. Rosary: Sorrowful Mysteries
10:00 a.m. Rosary: Glorious Mysteries
11:00 a.m. Rosary: Luminous Mysteries
11:00 am to noon confession
11:30 am Benediction                Noon Mass
12:30 pm    Eucharistic Adoration
1:00 pm    Rosary: Joyful Mysteries
2:00 pm Rosary: Sorrowful Mysteries
3:00 pm Divine Mercy Chaplet and the 3 o’clock prayers
4:00 pm Rosary: Glorious Mysteries
4:30 to 5:30 pm  confession
5:00 pm Rosary: Luminous Mysteries
5:30 pm    Benediction
7:00 pm    Peter & Paul Film in Farrell Hall
For additional information contact:   601.636.0140  or 601.831.0978.
If your parish or faith community is hosting a Jubilee Year of Mercy event or program, please let us know about it by emailing editor@mississippicatholic.com)

Debra West has several hundred ‘children,’ and she loves when they call on her. West is the director of the Catholic Charities Uncaccompanied Refugee Minor (URM) Program for Catholic Charities Jackson. Every table and window ledge in her office is covered in framed photos – graduations, weddings, new babies – reminders of the hundreds of lives she has touched. She has been at her post for 13 years, but the program has been in place in the diocese since 1980.
“They still call me, years after they have left,” she said. Once a participant turns 21 he or she is ‘emancipated,’ but West said she and her staff are always available to help. “We get calls 10, 15 years later, mostly people looking for their documents,” said West, but she likes to hear where they are and what they are doing.
An unaccompanied refugee minor (URM) is a child who enters the United States prior to their 18th birthday without a parent or guardian to care for them. Children who arrive with parents or other relatives may also become eligible for URM program services if their caregivers can no longer take care of them once in the United States.
The program assists the young people in developing appropriate skills to enter adulthood and to achieve economic and social self-sufficiency.
The primary focus of the program has always been to work toward reuniting these children with relatives whenever possible. The program was developed in the 1980’s by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) to initially address the needs of thousands of children in Southeast Asia without a parent or guardian to care for them.
Since 1980, Catholic Charities of Jackson, has provided specialized foster care to refugee children from Vietnam, Sudan, Somalia, Liberia, Haiti, Burma, Eritrea and the Republic of the Congo. These children were separated from their parents due to the outbreak of war or political upheaval in their countries. Their earliest childhood memories are of death, destruction, separation and survival. They witnessed the burning of their homes and villages and the massacre of their families and friends.
Some children had to flee without knowing who among their families had died or survived. At an age when most children were learning their ABC’s, they were running for their lives.
The children endured hunger, thirst, military assaults, and animal attacks to reach refugee camps. They learned to survive on their own and as a group. Refugee camps were able to provide the children with food, shelter, and relative safety to ease their physical suffering but could do little to heal their nightmarish memories or fears over the fate of their loved ones.
Catholic Charities also serves asylum seekers and victims of human trafficking.
Depending on their needs, the children are placed in therapeutic foster homes, group care, or independent living. “We have two group homes which can accommodate eight young men each,” said West. The foster parents in the group homes and individual homes get specialized training to help meet the needs of the young people, some of whom have been through traumatic situations before they arrive.
The URM program also offers assistance in obtaining U.S. residency, court documentation for immigration issues, translation services, English as a second language help, cultural orientation including grooming and hygiene instruction, case management, therapeutic services, tutors, socialization and recreational outlets.
Case workers and foster parents help the youth celebrate cultural holidays from their homelands and offer them the chance to learn about American holidays and culture. The success stories abound. West said 90 percent of the so-called Lost Boys of Sudan who came to Jackson, boys who fled the civil war in the African Republic to avoid becoming child soldiers, are now U.S. Citizens. Two of them even became therapeutic foster parents for the program when they completed it. West said most of them have also attainted master’s degrees. One received a prestigious scholarship from Rotary International to study diplomacy abroad. Another is in Texas working with FEMA.
One of the most dramatic success stories is that of Bul Mabil, a Lost Boy who was one of only 50 people worldwide to be selected for a Rotary Peace Fellowship to pursue a master’s of Conflict, Security and Development at the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom. He was five when he and his brother were forced to flee their home without their parents. He told his story to Mississippi Catholic in 2014 before he left for his studies.
“This is a chance to make a difference globally, not just locally,” he said. “This program is to train young leaders who can be catalysts for peace and conflict resolution nationally and internationally,” he added.
There is no doubt his own history with the URM program played into his decision to take on the fellowship. “The value of this program is that they are able to help children have an opportunity here in the U.S. Wherever they come from – there was a reason they came. They did not just decide to go,” he said. “None of us (the Lost Boys) wanted to leave the country where we were born. We had to leave because of war,” he said.
“Refugee issues have become big issues nowadays. The situations affecting these people are not well understood. I would like to highlight them,” Mabil said. “It is different coming from a war-torn country. These things (his success) did not come easily. It took struggle and I would not have overcome the struggles without a program like URM,” he said.
When a URM turns 21, Catholic Charities has a celebration for them. This year, two people left the program, both are continuing their education. West is a proud mom, she takes pride in the graduates and her staff. “We do outstanding work. All of our monitoring visits indicate that. The USCCB sees us as a premiere program,” she said.
West said she would like to open another group home for girls and always welcomes people who want to become therapeutic foster parents. To learn more about the foster parent program call Michael Holloway at 601-981-4668 ext. 702.