Project CHEW offers colorful food lesson

COLUMBUS – Annunciation prek through second grade students were honored to have the ladies from Project CHEW with the MUW (Mississippi University for Women) Culinary Arts Institute join them on Thursday, October 18. Chef Mary Helen Hawkins and Registered Dietitian, Amanda Dahl, along with student Chef Nicole and student Chef Nolan demonstrated how to “Eat the Rainbow” to get all the nutrients they need to grow. (Photo by Katie Fenstermacher)

Vicksburg code writers place in top 10 for competition

RIDGELAND – Vicksburg Catholic School students Andrew Brewer, Caden Pickle, Tommy Martin and Andrew Ulmer placed in the top 10 teams at a coding challenge sponsored by C Spire on October 30. During the event, the team worked with a software developer on a series of puzzles using the Python programming language. More than 100 high school students from schools across the state participated in the event. They also got to interact with a robot and experiment with virtual reality. (Photos courtesy Christin Matthews)

Sister Thea students

Sister Thea students promote the vote

JACKSON – Sister Thea Bowman students cast their votes during a Promote the Vote event. The students had voter registration ID cards, the student council representatives were the poll workers. The students had to sign-in after their names were checked and after voting, they were given “I voted today” stickers. District 3 Hinds County Election Commissioner Zakiya Summers spoke to the students about why it is important to vote. She gave the students a quiz about the history of voting which included the various amendments related to voting rights. (Photo by Shae Robinson)

Master gardeners plant science seeds at Sister Thea

JACKSON – Master Gardeners John Malanchak and Valerie Anderson teach Sister Thea Pre-K students a science lesson on plants. Malanchak provided two plant boxes: one for the students to plant violets and pansies and the other to plant their vegetables: kale, spinach, onions and radishes. (Photos by Shae Robinson)

Catholic school sports champions

In addition to spiritual formation and academic excellence, the four Catholic High Schools in the Diocese of Jackson have been garnering some sports championships as well. Here is a roundup of spring and fall sports championships held by Catholic Schools across the state.

Greenville St. Joe – Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) AA
2017-2018 Boys Basketball District Champions
2017-2018 Football MAIS 2AA State Champions
2018-2019 Football 2AA District Champions. Playoffs are underway. Junior Trey Benson broke the school record for most touchdowns in a single game with 8 touchdowns vs Greenville Christian School.

Madison St. Joe. – Mississippi High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) 2A
2018-2019 Boys Swim State Champions. They were second-place in state for 2017-2018.
2017-2018 Girls Swim State Champions. Girls swim we second place in the state for 2018-2019.
2017-2018 Boys Soccer State Champions
2017-2018 Baseball State Champions
2017-2018 Baseball District Champions
2017-2018 Boys Basketball District Champions
2017-2018 Boys and Girls Tennis District Champions
2018-2019 Boy and Girls Swim North State Champions

Madison St. Joseph’s baseball team celebrates after winning the state tournament in the spring of 2018. (Photos courtesy of Tricia Harris)

Madison St. Joseph’s boys swim team won the state title. The girls team was second in the state.

Natchez Cathedral – MAIS AAA
2018-2109 Cross Country, Varsity and JV State Champions. This is the third year the varsity has won the title.
2017-2018 Girls Golf State Champions
2017-2018 Boys Golf Individual State Championship.

NATCHEZ – As the bus load of Cross Country runners left Cathedral for the state meet, PreK 4 students with teacher Caroline Ferguson Nobile, assistants Betty Cusic and Jessica Byrne cheered them off campus. (Photo by Cara Serio)

Vicksburg Catholic. – MAIS AAA
2018-2019 Dance Competition State Champions in Jazz and Pom
2017-2018 Girl’s Soccer State Champions in Division III
2018 Girl’s Tennis second in State
2017-2018 Boy’s Soccer State Champions

Vicksburg Catholic Sports

St. Aloysius’ Wyatt Teague kicks Central Hinds’ Nick Lauderdale as they both go for the ball during Wednesday’s MAIS Class AAA semifinal in Raymond. St. Al won, 2-1, to snap Central Hinds’ 71-game winning streak. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Vicksburg’s girls soccer team brought home a championship this spring. (Photo by YAS Photography)

The Dance Between

Book review:

By Bragg Moore
When I picked up Valerie Winn’s second novel, The Dance Between, I was excited to go back to Mimosa, Mississippi, and learn about Beth Brinkmann. I was rewarded so many times as this young girl approached her early teen years and the perplexity and maturing that comes with them.
Like most early adolescents, Beth is trying to maneuver from the innocence of her youth to understanding herself and the complex world she is discovering. Beth grows up in a strong Catholic family where the values and principles her mom and dad have taught her guide her to this point.
As she matures she begins to realize that challenges await her beyond the simple world of Mimosa, where neighbors are friendly and supportive. Her best friends are maturing and moving in new directions as they enter a “public” middle school, a far cry from the world of Sister Alphonsettia and her small Catholic school. I found myself recalling so many common situations from my own life in a small town, in a small Catholic school, and surely within the presence and effect that the good sisters taught me and Beth.
Beth begins to make her own judgements on the relationships she has with family and friends. She is growing and trying to leave behind her many fears and move toward her big dreams. Unexpected affirmations come from the neighborhood busybody who gently pushes Beth to explore her expressive talent. Once that begins to happen, Beth gains confidence in herself. She is growing up to the surprise of others — and especially to herself.
The simple joy of reading this novel led me to examine my own life’s adventures. I smiled often and stopped to enjoy dredged-up memories. I laughed at the characters and their flaws. I promise it is worth the read. I enjoyed the Brinkmann family, Mimosa, and the lessons that can be learned.
(Bragg Moore is the former director of youth ministry for the Catholic Diocese of Biloxi.)

Students stage FinnFest

MADISON – St. Richard students get snowcones at FinnFest on Wednesday, Oct. 10. Students at St. Joseph School organized FinnFest to raise money for Finn Blaylock, a six-year-old who is fighting cancer. Finn is a student at St. Richard School while his siblings attend St. Joseph. The Fest included a teacher dunking booth, games, food and a blood drive for Finn. (Photos courtesy of Bruin Journalism class)

Synod groups focus on need for qualified accompaniment

By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – In their second round of reports to the Synod of Bishops, a number of working groups called for qualified and, in some way, supervised spiritual mentors or directors, recommended including more female figures from the Bible as examples and role models for young people, and praised having the inspiring input of young people during the gathering.
The second week of discussions centered on discernment, vocations and accompaniment, and the 14 working groups, which are divided by language, each came up with a number of suggestions, critiques and recommendations for the synod’s final document. The Vatican released the reports Oct. 16.
The working group English-A, which includes bishops from the United States, Australia, Ireland and England, said the synod “came alive” when young people gave their interventions, with one bishop in the group commenting, “I never realized a synod could be so much fun!”

Bishops and observers attend a session of the Synod of Bishops on young people, the faith and vocational discernment at the Vatican Oct. 18. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

The group recommended the final document present “a clear definition of vocation,” keeping in mind it should be speaking not only to practicing Catholics, but also to the “nones.”
The group also suggested including in the final document “a distinct treatment of the response of Mary to God’s call” and seeing her as the “archetypal disciple.”
While recognizing the key role families, friends and schools play in accompanying young people on their faith journey, the English-A group emphasized the need for “trained mentors” who had proper formation as well as “accompaniment/supervision” themselves so they could be effective spiritual guides.
The English-B group proposed that young people be prompted to “connect with Jesus’ youth and understand their lives in its light,” for example, by recognizing how Jesus personally experienced many young people’s struggles, such as being a refugee, growing up in an “underprivileged household,” being misunderstood at times by family and unappreciated by others.
The English-C group praised the use in the synod working document of examples and people from the Bible as concrete reference points for young people, but questioned its inclusion of figures such as Joshua since he led an army of conquest and Esther, whose example “is also full of violence and trickery.”
In an effort to pinpoint what “true” accompaniment would look like, the group said:
– It must respect that discernment belongs to the person being accompanied, not the mentor, avoiding all forms of manipulation and well-intentioned, but “inappropriate” forms of mentorship.
– The final document should develop further “respect for the freedom and conscience of the person being accompanied.”
– Accompaniment needs “a climate of friendliness, trust and warmth,” without the mentor losing needed objectivity and the ability to offer “fraternal correction.”
The importance of formation for mentors and spiritual directors also received much discussion in the English-D group, which included bishops from Canada and the United States, such as Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston and Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron of Los Angeles.
Even though one member of the group insisted “any baptized person can be an effective even powerful role model in the Christian life,” the group as a whole felt “the art of authentic spiritual mentorship requires specific training” and expertise.
Some in the group “warned that spiritual teachers too frequently devolve into gurus and encourage a cult of personality around themselves,” so “unmentored mentors” are not wanted or needed in the church.

Pope Francis blesses a synod observer before a session of the Synod of Bishops on young people, the faith and vocational discernment at the Vatican Oct. 16. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

The group noted “with a certain sadness that many prospective mentors today, especially in the West, are reluctant to enter into a relationship with a directee for fear that they might be accused of boundary violations.”
Group members also praised the use of biblical figures and their lives to help inspire young people, however, several young women in the group recommended the inclusion of more women “who cooperated mightily with the Lord,” such as Mary, Ruth, Deborah, Hannah, Abigail and Tabitha.
The French-A group said the spiritual accompaniment of an individual “does not do everything” and underlined the essential role of the family, peer groups and the community in “awakening” young people to God’s call and helping them live a virtuous life.
The French-B group requested that the final document cover the training of those who accompany or guide young people, because without the necessary skills, “the process is doomed to failure.”
They also addressed needing to reach out to single, unmarried people and reminding them that they, too, have a vocation, which ultimately is becoming an “adopted” child of the Father in Christ. “This is why it seems to us that we cannot say that people living alone do not have a vocation or that they refuse a vocation.”
The Spanish-A group highlighted:
– The need to reach out to young people who belong to gangs. “Their only love is that of the group and it is not easy to enter such closed environments nor is it easy for young people to get out of them.”
– Questions regarding the best ways to approach homosexuals, “who cannot be left out of our pastoral care,” and how pastors should respond to the issues of homosexual unions, surrogate motherhood, adoption by same-sex couples and other issues they believe are being promoted by international institutions.
– The large number of priests “who are waiting for the accompaniment of their bishops.”
The German-language group said one of the most important tasks all members of the church have is to show young people that they are loved simply because they exist and because of who they are, not because they are already good, capable, efficient or because they have certain qualities or are part of a group.
The Portuguese-language group said when it comes to sharing the faith, “we cannot reduce faith to a morality. The Christian proposal needs to be embodied in concrete experiences. It is necessary to return to the proposal of Jesus: ‘Come and see!'”
Concerning affection and sexuality, the church should begin with the basic Christian principles of the value of human life and the dignity of the body as a way to open dialogue with nonbelievers, the group said.
“The doctrine of the church in this field is beautiful and rich. It is necessary to present it with clarity, believing in the force of attraction contained therein and surpassing the vision of those who see it only as something rigid.”
The synod should also reflect on the vocation of those who remain single and those who are homosexual, it said. “It is not the mission of the church to respond to all particular realities, but it is her duty to care for, to accompany, to help the young person to give direction and direction to his or her own life, to help them to do good.”

(Contributing to this story was Junno Arocho Esteves.)