HOLLY SPRINGS – Kindergarteners from Holy Family School participated in a Christmas Padgent the last week of school. Bishop Joseph Kopacz enjoyed the event which included singing, praise dances and a live reenactment of the Nativity. (Photo by Laura Grisham)
JACKSON – St. Richard Catholic School’s annual service project, Manhattan Mall, is one of the yearly endeavors that speaks to the Catholic Social Teaching of the school’s option for the poor and vulnerable, and to the works of mercy that are at the root of our Mercy Sisters’ heritage. Manhattan Nursing and Rehabilitation Center sits across the street from the school. Many of the residents are not able to leave the nursing home and shop for Christmas presents for their children, grandchildren or even fellow residents and staff, so the sixth grade brings the stores to them. The stores, which are supervised by the sixth graders, are divided into different sections and each resident will receive Manhattan Mall “money” to shop for five gifts each. Once the residents have purchased their items, they have the option of having them gift-wrapped for their loved ones. The hope is for the residents to be able to personally buy gifts for their family and friends, which allows them to feel independent.
SOUTHAVEN – Sacred Heart and Holly Springs Holy Family School students participated in a science presentation about the New Madrid Fault Zone given by Kent Moran from the University of Memphis’ Center for Earthquakes and Research Information. (Photo by Laura Grisham)
COLLEGEVILLE, Minnesota – When Perry Leffler (NCYC Alum 2015) of Jackson St. Richard Parish went to Minnesota for a youth choir camp, she knew there would be lots of singing. What she found was so much more: fun, friendship, and faith. “[This camp] definitely strengthened my faith,” she said. “I like how we came to camp not knowing anyone leave it as close friends.”
COLLEGEVILLE, Minnesota – St. Richard Parish member Perry Leffler, front row, far left, toured with the National Catholic Youth Choir in 2015. This year, there is a new scholarship available for a student who wishes to join. (Photo by Marc Leffler)
The National Catholic Youth Choir, which meets on the grounds of Saint John’s Abbey and University in central Minnesota, is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2019. Since the choir’s founding in 2000, more than 300 young Catholic singers have participated in the summer camp. They have all shared a powerful experience of singing sacred music, studying the Bible and their Catholic faith, learning some music history, and making new friends to play sports and recreate with. “It’s a positive, joyful experience of being Catholic that really speaks to young people,” said founding director Fr. Anthony Ruff, OSB.
During the camp the choir members pray with the Benedictine monks and sisters, participate in experiences such as the Rosary or Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and end each day by chanting Compline. After the intense music rehearsal on campus, the choir goes on tour to sing at parish liturgies and offer concerts of sacred music. “
Membership in the selective choir is by audition. To make it easy for applicants from across the U.S., the entire application process is done online. All young singers with note-reading ability and choir experience are invited to apply. For the 20th anniversary it is expected that the choir will be larger than ever – and they will be joined at the final Mass by dozens of alum singers from the past 20 years!
Thanks to the generosity and support of Bishop Joseph Kopacz, a young chorister from the Diocese of Jackson is eligible for a $250 scholarship toward NCYC camp and choir tour.
“The NCYC provides opportunity for every person to grow spiritually, intellectually, and socially into faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. I am so very happy to have taken part in it,” said Remy Mumby (NCYC Alum 2016) from Lansing, Michigan
For information about the choir, including how to apply, go to www.CatholicYouthChoir.org. Applications are due in mid-March.
(Story submitted by National Catholic Youth Choir)
MERIDIAN – On the Feast Day of St. Nicholas, St. Patrick School students left a shoe outside their classroom for St. Nicholas to fill. The children received a candy cane, chocolate coins and a prayer card. Shown are first graders Hayden Thompson, foreground, and Chance Glass as they discover what St. Nicholas left for them. (Photo by Celeste Saucier)
By Theresa Laurence
NASHVILLE, Tenn (CNS) – More than 1,800 Catholic middle school students and their chaperones from 10 dioceses danced and prayed their way through an interactive retreat event at the Catholic Pastoral Center in Nashville, the largest of its kind ever staged in the diocese.
“I’m still in awe,” said Bill Staley, director of youth and young adult ministry for the Diocese of Nashville.
The daylong event Dec. 1, which included a mix of high-energy musicians and inspirational speakers, along with quiet moments for eucharistic adoration and prayer, was well-received by the youth, their parents and chaperones who attended.
Holy Fire, produced by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry, is developed in collaboration with host dioceses, like Nashville as well as Chicago recently. Both events have been extremely well attended by thousands of young people.
“We had over 10 dioceses in all, including representatives from across Tennessee and three of four dioceses in Kentucky,” Staley told the Tennessee Register, newspaper of the Nashville Diocese. Groups also traveled from Birmingham, Alabama, north Georgia and Evansville, Indiana.
“I feel really good to grow this event into something great,” said Staley, who is already thinking about hosting a two-day event next year.
“It was a great experience and we can’t wait to go back next year,” said Cindy Sabatino, director of religious education at Our Lady of the Lake Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee, who brought a group of 30 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders to the event.
One of the high points of the day for Sabatino and her group was adoration. “Many of them had never experienced adoration like that” among such a large group of peers, she said. “They can be intimidated to pray in front of their peers,” she said, but here they were encouraged to let their guard down and “just be with the Lord” in the moment.
The entire experience of being with so many Catholic young people for a full day of Catholic musicians, speakers and prayer was new to many Holy Fire participants, young people and their parents alike, Staley said.
“Many parents joined for the whole day,” he said. “A lot of them didn’t have an experience like this (in their own childhood), which is a wonderful benefit of the program.”
Holy Fire is the newest evolutionary step in the Diocese of Nashville’s annual confirmation preparation for middle schoolers, and now reaches beyond the students preparing for the sacrament.
Father Andrew Bulso, a priest of the Diocese of Nashville, Tenn., carries the monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament during Mass for about 1,800 middle school students and their chaperones at the Holy Fire retreat event Dec. 1 at the Catholic Pastoral Center in Nashville. (CNS photo/Theresa Laurence, Tennessee Register)
Partnering with the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry enabled Nashville’s youth ministers to stage a much larger-scale event than they could have done alone, complete with professional sound and lighting designs, big screen video and multimedia presentations.
Holy Fire’s mission is “to set young people ablaze with the love of Christ and inspire them to live as disciples of Jesus Christ in the world, to embrace their baptism and engage with the relevant and powerful Gospel of Jesus.”
Speakers and performers from the day included: Joe Melendrez, Noelle Garcia, Dom Quaglia, Sarah Hart, the Cimorelli Sisters and the Sarah Kroger Band. Throughout the day, participants also had the opportunity to receive the sacrament of reconciliation, renew their baptismal promises, and talk with exhibitors, which included the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, among others.
Nashville Bishop J. Mark Spalding, who drove back to Nashville from Cincinnati just in time to make the closing remarks at the Holy Fire Mass, encouraged the young people to be examples pointing towards Christ, “to bring the love of Christ into your home and community.”
“I think the bishop’s message was very meaningful,” said Sabatino, encouraging the youth to go forth and have a positive influence. “He’s young, he’s motivated, he inspires the kids.”
Overall, Sabatino said, her group wasn’t sure what to expect going into the day, but thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Holy Fire “put them in a place where they could open their hearts to Jesus,” she said.
(Laurence is a staff writer for the Tennessee Register, newspaper of the Diocese of Nashville.)
GALLMAN – The Diocesan Fall Search Retreat took place November 9-11, at Camp Wesley Pines. sixty-five juniors and seniors from across the diocese participated in the weekend retreat either as Searchers or Staffers.
Search is unique in that it is a retreat “for teens; led by teens.” Modeled after the Cursillo movement, search has been an active ministry for youth in our diocese for the last 15 years. The retreat is sponsored by the Diocesan Office of Youth Ministry but St. Richard parishioners, Ann and Jeff Cook have been the longtime volunteer adult coordinators
The Spring Search Retreat is set for March 1-3, 2019 at Camp Wesley Pines. Juniors and Seniors can register for the retreat via www.jacksonsearch.com. Space is limited. For questions, please contact Abbey Schuhmann in the Office of Youth Ministry – Abbey.Schuhmann@jacksondiocese.org or (601)949-6934.
COLUMBUS – Annunciation sixth-grade students presented the Hall of Saints on Friday, November 2. Each student researched a saint for several months and then portrayed that saint, complete with costumes and props, while telling interesting facts about them to the younger students. (Photo by Katie Fenstermacher)
GREENVILLE – The first-graders at St. Joseph School got to play in a dusting of snow on Wednesday, Nov. 14. Above, Carson Triplett shouts for joy on the plyaground. There was not enough snow to cancel school in Greenville, but the children still got to take some time to enjoy it. (Photos by Craig Mandolini)
SOUTHAVEN – Sacred Heart students offered Mass for veterans on Friday, Nov. 16. Father Greg Schill, who celebrated the Mass, served in the U.S. military. (Photo by Sister Rose Hacker)
JACKSON – St. Richard School sixth-grader Logan Burger attaches a flag pin to a visiting veteran during the school’s veteran’s day program. Students sing the songs from all the military branches, hear from local veterans and present a reflection on soldiers who never came home. (Photo by Wendi Shearer)
