Updates

Sailing the High Seas in September 1929

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From the Archives
By Mary Woodward
Last time we left a young Bishop Gerow on the deck of the MS Augustus pulling out from the New York harbor with several seminary classmates bound for the Mediterranean and its exotic ports of call. This week we find him enjoying the open ocean and blue skies of autumn as he and his companions make their way across the sea to the coast of Spain and beyond.

On Sept. 22, he remarks in his reminiscence that it is a “soothing change” to no longer be in the hustle and bustle of New York with its roar, dust, and gasses. He takes joy in being away from the “nervous bedlam of the metropolis with men and women rushing wildly here and there through the streets.”

Above is the Port of Tangier, Morocco. Below left is the Rock of Gibraltar. (Photos from BigStock.com)

Finding himself now resting in a steamer chair on the deck of the ship, he basks in the sunshine and mild temps under the “great blue dome of heaven above curving down on all sides until it rests upon the distant horizon.” He reflects on the “great blue ocean beneath us rising and falling, slowly, rhythmically like the breathing of some gigantic beast, its waves beating against the iron sides of the steamer and sending their spray in many colored rainbows.”

Considering the many responsibilities of the office of bishop, I imagine it was wonderful for him to just sit and relax on the “gigantic beast” and enjoy meeting fellow passengers, engage in a game of quoits (similar to horseshoes but with rope rings) or shuffleboard. Coming from Mobile, he was very used to being on the water. Apparently, some of his traveling companions were having a little trouble being at sea.

“For the last two days some of our party have failed to appear in the dining room for some of the meals; and the waiter has looked at me several times as if he thought that I was trying to eat their share as well as my own.”
His entry on Sept. 25 has only four words: “Passed the Azore Islands.”

But on the morning of Sept. 28, they could see the coast of Spain. “This morning upon our port bow appeared the rugged coast of Southern Spain, with its rolling hills clothed in velvet green. We have been following the coastline all morning, perhaps six or eight miles away.”

Soon land appeared to the south of them – Africa off the starboard bow. The way he describes the scenery before him makes me feel right there on the deck. So, let’s sail along with him and enjoy his entry into the Mediterranean.

“Then as the distance between the Spanish shore on the north and the African shore on the south narrowed, there came into view the great Rock of Gibraltar on the Spanish side of the strait, and Gebel Musa, a great mountain of rock on the African side. Between these two rocky points ten miles apart the great Mediterranean Sea empties into the Atlantic Ocean.

“Gibraltar is a great rock rising precipitously from the water to a height of 1361 feet … this is connected with the Spanish mainland by a narrow strip of flat, sandy land. Gibraltar belongs to England. It has belonged to England since 1704. …Within this great rock run tunnels with small openings … looking out upon the sea and across the strait. Through these openings point great cannons, so that England is in a position to command absolutely the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea.”

Bishop Gerow and his friends disembarked the Augustus and bid farewell to the ocean liner. He describes the moment as being similar to watching the departure of a dear friend as the ship sailed back out into the Atlantic.

Since the hotels at Gibraltar were not considered too comfortable, the group had booked rooms in a hotel in Algeciras on the Spanish mainland. So they made their way across that narrow, sandy strip of land to check in for one night. The next day they would board a steamer for Tangier in Morocco.

During his short stay in Algeciras in Spain, Bishop Gerow paints a picture of a quaint sojourn into Spanish lore. “An air of antiquity hangs over the place – one lives again in the middle ages in this old-fashioned little town with its narrow streets, its ancient buildings, its easy going people.”

As he sat in the gardens of the hotel the next morning prior to departing for Tangier, he soaked in that tranquil setting. “As I felt upon my cheek the cool, refreshing salt-scented breeze from the ocean, I said contentedly within myself: ‘So this is Spain.’

“But I must awake from my revery – our boat leaves at two o’clock for Tangier. But I will return to Spain!”

Let us leave him boarding the steamer for Morocco. His adventure there is quite rich in a land foreign to his “occidental eyes.”

(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson.)

Youth

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Schools happenings around the Diocese

MERIDIAN – St. Patrick Catholic School third graders Nolan Mascaro, left, and Jude Pittman lead the morning news and daily prayer Aug. 21. Students watch the daily announcements on smart boards in their classrooms. (Photo by Helen Reynolds)
MERIDIAN – St. Patrick Catholic School students Emory, Davis, Finley and Caroline Augustine pause for early morning prayer in the school chapel Thursday, Aug. 27. (Photo by Helen Reynolds)
VICKSBURG – Father Rusty Vincent blesses a child during Vicksburg Catholic School’s annual Back-to-School Mass. (Photo by Anna Griffing)
JACKSON – St. Richard School students participate in altar server training, learning the responsibilities and traditions of serving at Mass. Pictured are Thanh Nguyen, Thomas Morisani, Federico Diaz, Catherine Simmons and Marilee Nelson. The students will begin serving at daily and all-school Masses on campus. (Photo by Celeste Saucier)
NATCHEZ – Cathedral School junior Anna Arthur shares a hug with kindergartner Adelide Garrison as the two meet for the first time through the school’s buddy program. (Photo by Brandi Boles)
COLUMBUS – Annunciation Catholic School kindergarten teacher Heather Ford leads students in a classroom activity. Ford, who has spent 18 of her 31 years in education at Annunciation, was recently named Teacher of the Year by the Kiwanis Club of Columbus and went on to receive the Louisiana-Mississippi-West Tennessee Kiwanis District Teacher of the Year honor. Ford says she strives to make sure every child who enters her classroom knows they are both “loved and liked.” (Photo by Kacy Haffner)
NATCHEZ – Cathedral School junior Grant Carlton, right, and kindergartner Emmett Dunaway talk about trucks while finding some shade on the playground during their first buddy meeting. (Photo by Brandi Boles)
MADISON – St. Joseph students Alexa Ward (left) and Margaret Klar (right), perform an experiment in their honors chemistry class on Tuesday, Sept. 1. (Photo by Matt Sigler)
MADISON – St. Joseph Catholic School spirit squads and band perform their pregame routine Aug. 21 before the Bruins kicked off the football season against Copiah Academy. (Photo by Matt Sigler)
PONTOTOC – Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, Father Tim Murphy and Deacon Carlos Solas are pictured with confirmation candidates at St. Christopher Parish following the celebration of the sacrament April 18. Candidates pictured are Brittney Analai Acosta, Valentina Acosta, Alayska Alvarado, Tamara Garcia Alvarado, Jasmine Alvarez, Brian Joseph Amigon, Maddox Arriola, Sophie Arriola, Maria Fernanda Avina, Andrea Castillo, Eric Castillo, Regina Chaires, Dennis Chavez, Luis Corona, Cristian Yael Cruz, Jocelyn Cruz, Carmel Sadie Ethridge, Diana Figueroa, Steven Andrew Friloux, Miquel Alejandro Moreno Galvez, Alyssa Deanne B. Garcia, Maria Guadalupe Garcia, Alejandro Garcia Gomez, Emily Rosalyn Gusmus, Fernanda Morales Hernandez, Leonel B. Hernandez, Katelynn-Ann Yinhi Le, Clarissa Lira, Efren Lira, Lizabeth Aileen Lira, Oscar Lira, Ailyn Mejia, Brianna Gonzalez Mendez, Zullemy Gonzalez Medina, Luis Ortega, Ricardo Renovato, Justin Anderson Gomez Reynosa, Evelyn Sanchez, Andrea Tiscareno, Angela Tiscareno, Jacqueline Arena Tiscareno, Jesus Alexander Tiscareno, John Michael Triano, William Hunt Valentine, Alex Diaz Vazquez, Ethan Thomas Vincent and Ricardo Olvera Yanez. (Photo courtesy of parish)

Father Tom Mullally, SVD: Six decades of a missionary ‘yes’

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By Joanna Puddister King
GREENVILLE – For Father Thomas Mullally, SVD, 60 years of religious life can be measured in dates and places – from a small Michigan community to parishes across Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi.

But perhaps a better measure if found in the people.

They came from communities Father Mullally has served over the decades to celebrate his 60th anniversary of religious profession with the Society of the Divine Word. During the celebration, representatives from parishes in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi were asked to stand, a visible reminder of the lives and communities that have intersected with his ministry.

Looking back over those years, Father Mullally said one lesson has remained remarkably consistent: ministry begins with being close to people.

GREENVILLE – Father Tom Mullally, SVD, distributes Communion during a Mass of Thanksgiving celebrating the 60th anniversary of his religious profession with the Society of the Divine Word. Attendees came from communities in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi where Father Mullally has served during his decades of ministry. View more photos at jacksondiocese.zenfoliosite.com.

“If you are good to the people, compassionate and merciful, they love you,” he said.

He said smaller parishes have given him something particularly valuable – time to know the people he serves.
“The smaller parishes give you more time. You get to know the people better,” Father Mullally said, describing the closeness of a small parish as being “like family.”

Born Nov. 9, 1942, in Emmett, Michigan, Father Mullally was the fourth of five children born to John and Ann Mullally. His father died in 1949, leaving his mother to raise their five children.

Some of his fondest childhood memories were summers spent on his grandparents’ farm in Vassar, Michigan. Farm life helped instill lessons in hard work, responsibility, perseverance, simplicity and concern for others – qualities that would follow him into missionary ministry.

After graduating from Vassar High School in 1960, he entered Divine Word Seminary.

On Sept. 8, 1966, Father Mullally professed his first religious vows with the Society of the Divine Word. He professed perpetual vows four years later, on Sept. 8, 1970, and was ordained to the priesthood Dec. 19, 1970, in Techny, Illinois.
His ministry took him throughout the Divine Word Missionaries’ Southern Province, with assignments in Louisiana and Arkansas before eventually leading him to Mississippi.

Father Mullally came to the Delta in 2008, serving Catholic communities including Sacred Heart in Greenville, St. Francis in Shaw, Immaculate Conception in Indianola and St. Benedict the Moor in Indianola, as well as communities in Shelby and Mound Bayou and at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.

He retired from active ministry in December 2020 but not from priestly ministry. Today, he continues serving as a priest in residence at Sacred Heart in Greenville and St. Francis in Shaw.

Nearly two decades in the Delta have given Father Mullally a particular appreciation for the faith of its Catholic communities.
Asked what the people of the Delta have taught him about faith, his answer was simple: “They chose to be Catholic.”

He spoke especially about Black Catholics who remain committed to the church while living in communities where Catholics are a small minority.

“They chose to be Black and Catholic. Now, that’s a commitment,” Father Mullally said. “They chose to be Catholic, and to remain Catholic. Now, that’s faith. That’s loyalty to the Church.”

Father Mullally has also encountered new experiences during his years in the Delta, including ministry to the growing Hispanic Catholic community. Although he does not speak Spanish beyond a few words, he said he has learned that communication in ministry goes deeper than language.

“The core of the heart is so important,” Father Mullally said. “Because they know that you love them, you have compassion for them.”

At the anniversary Mass, provincial Father Augustine “Gus” Wall, SVD, reflected on a characteristic he believes has defined Father Mullally’s missionary life – presence.

“One thing, I’m sure we’ve all experienced about Father Tom, is that he is present for us,” Father Wall said. “If you’re having joy in your life, he wants to hear it. And he will pray with you for it. If you’re going through some … trouble, he wants to hear it even more.”

Parishioners offered similar memories.

One described Father Mullally as someone who listened and offered good advice when she needed to talk. Another recalled his presence in parishioners’ homes – blessing homes, sharing meals and becoming part of the life and history of the community.

During the anniversary celebration, Father Mullally stood with a candle in hand and renewed the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience he first professed six decades ago.

GREENVILLE – Father Tom Mullally, SVD (left), flashes a broad smile as he walks down the aisle alongside Bishop Joseph Kopacz and Father Augustine “Gus” Wall, SVD, following the celebration of the 60th anniversary of his religious profession in the Society of the Divine Word. (Photos by Joanna King)

Following the renewal of vows, Father Mullally became emotional as he thanked God and reflected on reaching a milestone he once was not certain he would see.

“I just thank God. I didn’t think I’d make it,” he said tearfully.

Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, who has known Father Mullally for more than a decade of his priesthood, pointed to the contrast between the young Divine Word Missionary who professed vows at age 23 in 1966 and the priest celebrating six decades of religious life in 2026.

The years have changed some things, the bishop joked, but not Father Mullally’s desire to serve.

“He doesn’t dance physically like he used to,” Bishop Kopacz said. “But he dances in his heart.”

Sixty years after his first profession, Father Mullally’s missionary journey continues – still rooted in the people, still centered on relationships and still answering the call that first led a young man from rural Michigan to the Society of the Divine Word.

The Tom and Gerry Show

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GUEST COLUMN
By Joe Lee
My wife of 31 years, Leslie, was stunned when I arrived home after a parish event over a year ago and said, “Let’s go to Ireland.”

I was referring to the Tom and Gerry Show, the annual excursion across the Atlantic Ocean to Father Gerry Hurley and Father Tommy Conway’s native land. The journey to the beloved Emerald Isle, some 4,000 miles away, would have us away from home ten days.

“Mike and Dianne are definite,” I added, referring to close friends Mike and Dianne Barrett, fellow parishioners at St. Francis of Assisi in Madison. “That’ll add value to the trip.”

Leslie, once she picked herself up off the floor, was excited but skeptical. She’d urged me to travel with her while we’re still in good health, but she knew from being married to a workaholic who loves what he does that domestic spots like Yellowstone or Niagara Falls would be a tough sell.

Full disclosure: I detest flying and hadn’t been on a plane since 1996. After the hour-long flight to Atlanta (and a lengthy airport layover), we would be in the air a whopping seven-plus hours. I was assured I would sleep during the overnight flight to Dublin.
Right.

Irish musician Adrian Cashin accompanies Father Gerry Hurley in a singalong at Malzards, an authentic Irish pub in Co. Kilkenny, as coach driver Tom Tynan looks on. Inset: Visitors eager to kiss the Blarney Stone enter the centuries-old structure and begin the long climb to the top. (Photos by Barrett Photography)

I was a zombie as I staggered into the sunshine and tugged along my suitcases. But it turned out to be an unforgettable trip full of fantastic sights, good food, and fun times with Mike and Dianne. Also with us was Allison Hoggatt, a close friend from St. Paul in Flowood – we met a whole bunch of nice people from St. Paul.

Quick observations: The Cliffs of Moher, which provide a spectacular view of the Atlantic, was a breathtaking example of God’s creation.

I fought claustrophobia and successfully climbed the interior of Blarney Castle in Cork to kiss the Blarney Stone.

I’ll never forget Father Hurley celebrating Sunday Mass in the bar of the Savoy Hotel in Limerick.

We visited Malzards, an authentic Irish pub, for a tall glass of Guinness. While there we tried to learn hurling (Ireland’s national pastime and a game similar to field hockey and lacrosse) and enjoyed a performance from retired tailor and professional musician Adrian Cashin, who led us in singalongs of standards such as “Yellow Submarine” and “Danny Boy.”

Ireland has lots of beautiful countryside with mountains in the distance that made the lengthy coach rides enjoyable. The widespread use of stone in the architecture is striking. So are the bright colors in the designs of both the homes and businesses in Cork, Kilkenny, Limerick, and Kinsale, the little fishing village where we stayed first.

That was where I ruled out a morning jog on the narrow sidewalk when I realized the Irish drive on the left side of the street.
It was great to get better acquainted with Father Hurley, the St. Paul pastor who’d just celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood, and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Father Conway, the pastor at St. Fabian in Hattiesburg.

“The Tom and Gerry show started about 15 years ago,” Father Conway said. “Father Gerry had never done a full tour of his own, but he would have six or eight people on mine. He branched out this year and labeled it the Golden Jubilee tour, inviting me along for the ride.”

Father Conway hails from County Galway, while Father Hurley was raised outside County Cork. The priests have been friends since 1986 when Father Conway first came to Mississippi.

“I think the people form a bond before they ever leave Mississippi,” Father Conway added. But the ‘Craic’ (loosely translated, a fun time) in Ireland really helps. Spending extra time and savoring the places we visit helps.”

Adding crucial narration was coach driver Tom Tynan, an entertaining Irishman from County Kilkenny who must be familiar with every square inch of the country. He and Father Conway met 33 years ago when the pastor brought his first tour to Ireland.

“I think one of the highlights is that many making the trip have some kind of Irish heritage,” Father Hurley said. “So many have grown up with Irish priests. Based on the stories and witness, they have longed to see the Emerald Isle.

“This year, Father Tommy prevailed on me to organize a trip with a focus of people from the St. Paul area. He was key to planning and organization, as he and Tom Tynan had just finished a tour before ours began. That impacted our choices, such as having Mass in a bar as opposed to Father Tommy’s church.”

Our tour guides were great, and I can’t recommend the Tom and Gerry Show enough. Yes, the airplane seats were as comfortable as cement blocks, and the less said about the airplane food, the better – I won’t eat “mushy peas” at a five-star restaurant, let alone microwaved at 38,000 feet.

But if I, as someone who thinks driving to Tupelo or Meridian counts as a vacation, can handle being away from routine and business for ten days, you certainly can.

Go while you’re still able to do so.

(Joe Lee is the Editor-in-Chief of Dogwood Press, and member of St. Francis of Assisi, Madison.)

Two Dehonian priests ordained in Houston

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HOUSTON, Tex. – Father Hung Pham, SCJ kneels before Bishop Joseph Kopacz during the presentation of the paten and chalice during his Ordination Mass on Aug. 15 at the Vietnamese Martyrs Parish in Houston. (Photos by Mary Gorski)

By Mary Gorski
HOUSTON, Tex. – On Aug. 15, Bishop Joseph Kopacz of the Diocese of Jackson, ordained two members of the Priests of the Sacred Heart (Dehonians) at Vietnamese Martyrs Parish in Houston: Father Hung Pham, SCJ, and Father Long Nguyen, SCJ.

Father Hung did his deacon internship with the Dehonians’ pastoral team in northern Mississippi; he will continue to serve there in his first priestly assignment.
Both of the newly ordained priests have ties to the Houston area. For Father Hung, 39, it was a homecoming: Vietnamese Martyrs has been his parish since arriving in the United States from Vietnam in 2008. “I was an usher and catechist for four years here before entering religious formation,” he said. “My parents have been members of the parish since their arrival in the United States in 2024.”

Before entering SCJ candidacy, Father Hung earned a degree in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Houston and worked at the ALS Oil and Gas Company as a Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) analyst.

He professed his first vows with the Priests of the Sacred Heart in 2020 and his final vows in 2025. Last December, he graduated from Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology in Hales Corners, Wisconsin, and was ordained to the diaconate. For the past seven months he has been serving with the Dehonians’ pastoral team in northern Mississippi, within the Diocese of Jackson.

Originally from Thibodaux, Louisiana, Father Long, 47, comes to the priesthood after nearly 20 years of religious life as an SCJ brother. He has served in pastoral ministry in South Dakota, Mississippi and Wisconsin. He also assisted with the English and Culture Studies Program at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology. After completing a year-long CPE program (Clinical Pastoral Education) through Aurora Healthcare in Milwaukee, he entered his current ministry as a hospital chaplain in the Milwaukee area.

It was in his ministry as a chaplain that his call to ordained ministry grew. “I enjoy sharing prayer space with others,” he said. “Chaplaincy is one way of sharing that space, a space that can take many forms. I remind people that tears, anguish and frustrations are prayers too.”

In his homily during the Ordination Mass, Father Vien Nguyen, SCJ, provincial superior of the US Province, shared words of advice that he had collected from fellow Dehonians, friends and family members. He closed the homily with his own advice for the newly ordained:

“Stay close to Christ, close to the people, close to your religious community, and close to the Spirit. If you do, your priesthood will become a real sign of the love of the Sacred Heart and a faithful witness to our Dehonian vocation.”

The Priests of the Sacred Heart, also known as “Dehonians,” after their founder, Father Leo John Dehon, or “SCJ” for their initials, is an international Roman Catholic religious order of priests and brothers based in Rome. The order has a presence in over 40 countries; its headquarters in the United States is in Hales Corners, as is one of its largest ministries in the country: Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology.

In Mississippi, Dehonians have responsibility for the Church’s ministry in five northwest counties of the state. Through Sacred Heart Southern Missions, Dehonians offer social services and emergency aid, advocacy, housing, education, job training and counseling. The Sacred Heart Auto League is also a part of SHSM ministry.

Father Long Nguyen, SCJ bestows a blessing on family members during his Ordination Mass on Aug. 15 at the Vietnamese Martyrs Parish in Houston, Texas.

(Photos from the Ordination Mass are available at the following link: https://scjusa.smugmug.com/Ordination-of-Frs-Long-Nguyen-SCJ-and-Hung-Pham-SCJ)

Pope Leo’s advice for seminarians: Focus on your relationship with Jesus

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By Courtney Mares
For seminarians navigating years of study and discipline in formation for the priesthood, Pope Leo XIV had a reminder Sept. 3: The key to preparing for priestly ministry is focusing on “your relationship with the One who called you.”

Pope Leo encouraged future priests to use their years in seminary to ground every aspect of their formation in a deep personal relationship with God.

“The heart of the seminary experience lies here: learning to be with the Master, the Lord Jesus,” the pope said in an audience with Italian seminarians in the Vatican’s Clementine Hall.

“Every vocation is born from an intimate dialogue with God, cultivated in silence and prayer, which often occurs despite the sometimes deafening noise of the world,” the pope said.

The pope met with seminarians from two seminaries in southern Italy: the Pius XI Regional Seminary in Puglia and the Episcopal Seminary of Aversa in Campania.

Pope Leo XIV smiles during a private audience with seminarians at the Vatican Sept. 3, 2026. Pope Leo shared his advice with the seminarians on how to best prepare for the vocation to the priesthood. (OSV News photo/Mario Tomassetti, Vatican Media)

“In a world so eager to celebrate self-realization, it is truly important to reiterate that none of you and none of us are here because we deserve it, but only because of a free choice made by God the Father, a sign and pledge of a gratuitous love that always anticipates us and never disappoints,” Pope Leo told the young men.

“There is no competition, no ranking, nor is it written anywhere that he chose the best: He chose those he wanted,” he added.

The pope underlined that the time spent in seminary is more necessary than ever today “in a world that is in a hurry.”

“Precisely because our times are fast-paced and noisy, we need a place and a season in life where we can learn to be present, to discern, and to allow ourselves to be formed without taking shortcuts,” he said. “The seminary is not a postponement of the mission, but rather a prerequisite for it.”

He encouraged them to remember that they are being prepared to be sent to communicate the newness of life in Christ to the world “to those families who are barely getting by, to young people in their 20s who pack their bags to look for work, to the elderly living alone, to the marginalized, and to those who have lost their sense of purpose.”

“The priest is sent to all people so that he may proclaim to all the beauty of faith in Jesus Christ, the good news of our salvation,” he said.

Pope Leo thanked the young men for their “yes” to God’s call, adding “your very presence in the seminary is a sign of hope for the entire Church.”

“As I look at each of you, I contemplate the wonder of God, who never tires of whispering to the hearts of young people the beauty of giving one’s life for him and for the Church,” the pope said.

(Courtney Mares is Vatican editor for OSV News. Follow her on X @catholicourtney.)

United in Mission, anchored in prayer

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Bishop Kopacz

By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
The Capital Campaign, United in Mission, Forming Shepherds + Strengthening Parishes has begun to sink its roots and spread its wings across the diocese. There is no doubt that the expertise within our Catholic Foundation and Diocesan Temporal Affairs, in collaboration with our highly experienced campaign organizers, Guidance in Giving, has produced a clear and compelling case that is already gaining traction for this first ever diocesan-wide campaign.

However, the engine that drives this bus is not so much a matter of the best practices in fundraising and organizational dynamics, as essential as these are, but prayer.

The faithful of the diocese have been planting the seeds for this campaign with heartfelt prayer for vocations to the priesthood and religious life for the past 12 1/2 years of my tenure as bishop, and no doubt well before then. During this time, the Holy Spirit has awakened many in the Catholic Church to treasure the gift of the priesthood, the sacramental life that flows from it and the spiritual leadership across our ministries.
Anchored in prayer, the Holy Spirit has raised up a strong diocesan ministry of vocations and opened the hearts and minds of many more viable candidates to discern a vocation to the priesthood. Indeed, we have sought first the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33); we have begged the Harvest Master, as the Lord commanded us (Matthew 9:35-38); now we must continue to remain faithful in prayer so that United in Mission campaign will bring about an abundant harvest for the formation of future shepherds.

The second of two essential pastoral pillars of our campaign is the strengthening of parishes. Covering 65 counties, the diocese is composed of a panorama of parishes, often with unique needs, opportunities and limitations. During our recent diocesan Pastoral Reimagining journey each parish was invited to discuss, discern and pray about how it could better flourish under the gaze of the Holy Spirit.

We call upon the Holy Spirit again so that each parish in the United in Mission campaign can build upon Pastoral Reimagining and identify needs, opportunities and dreams that can be addressed with prospective financial resources that otherwise would not materialize. Pastors, parish leadership and parishioners can walk together as co-responsible disciples building up the Lord’s body in their parish.

The first Christian community in Jerusalem, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, is the standard for all parish communities and dioceses in every age. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42). Two chapters later we read that “all of the believers were one in heart and mind” (4:32).

United in prayer, all are invited to be one in mind and heart for the flourishing of our diocesan family, the Body of Christ. Inevitably, there will be differences of opinion, uncertainty and anxiety over such a major endeavor that we are undertaking. Yet, the Lord calls us to walk together patiently, respectfully and kindly, devoted in daily prayer, at the Eucharist, especially on the Lord’s Day, and in fellowship, all the while clothed by God’s embrace in our One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic tradition under the gaze of the Holy Spirit.

Along the way, each of us will be asked to prayerfully consider how God is directing us to be united in mission. We entrust this endeavor to the intercession of our Blessed Mother, whose presence at Pentecost was a source of consolation and peace for the disciples, united in mission in eager anticipation to be clothed with power from on high.

Called by Name

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For the last six years, the Homegrown Harvest has grown into our largest annual fundraiser for seminary education. Last year we raised over $200,000 for our seminarians: a record! But with the United In Mission Capital Campaign kicking off and the goal of $10 million dollars going in a trust for seminarian education along with it, I have been receiving a very reasonable question: is the Homegrown Harvest still going to happen? And another related question: what is the difference between supporting the Homegrown Harvest and supporting the Capital Campaign?

Homegrown Harvest will continue, and we hope that it will continue for a long, long time. There were two reasons that we started this event back in 2020: 1) to celebrate the good things the Lord is doing in our diocese through the men who are answering the call to serve as priests; and 2) to raise money to offset annual expenses. Those goals are still on the table, and we believe that this event is worth having because it is a wonderful evening with supporters of our vocation office and our seminarians and their families. The money that we raise helps cover the tuition, books and fees that each of our twelve seminarians need to attend seminary. It also helps cover their health insurance premium if they need coverage, as well as a monthly stipend to help them with incidental costs that come up while they are in formation.

All told, it costs about $55,000 per year to cover one seminarian. So, while our fundraising is certainly up, we will always have yearly needs, especially with more seminarians and applicants than we’ve had in a long time. We have 12 excellent seminarians, and already have three applications for next year, and expecting several more to come.

The Catholic Church across the country is seeing an increase in seminary enrollment, and if you look at our numbers per capita, we are toward the top end of the trend. I continue to be grateful that Bishop Kopacz saw this trend and decided to address it head on.

With the United in Mission Capital Campaign providing long-term stability and predictable funding, Homegrown Harvest and our spring appeal will continue to help meet the seminarians’ year-to-year needs. While these annual efforts will remain essential, they will face less pressure to cover the full cost of seminarian education in the future.

This is a challenge, but it is one that is a great one to have to address, and I know that you would all agree. More seminarians means more priests, which means more access to the sacraments and more support and accompaniment for our parishioners across the diocese. We are playing the long-game, and the Lord is answering our prayers.

I hope that many of you are planning on supporting and attending the Homegrown Harvest this year. It will be on Saturday, Oct. 24, and for the first time, we are having it at the Clyde Muse Center in Pearl. We needed a larger venue because of the great participation we’ve seen over the past several years, so please come celebrate what God is doing in our diocese. We will see you next month!

(Father Nick Adam is Director of Vocations for the Diocese of Jackson. Visit https://bit.ly/HomegrownHarvest26 to purchase tickets or sponsor Homegrown Harvest.)

Pastoral Assignments

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Rev. Rickson Robert Antony appointed parochial vicar of St. James Parish in Tupelo effective July 2, 2026.

Rev. Hung Pham appointed to Sacred Heart Southern Missions Pastoral Team effective August 21, 2026.

Rev. Javier Rosa, ST, appointed parochial vicar of Sacred Heart Parish in Camden, effective August 2, 2026.

Deacon John McGinley appointed to St. Paul Parish, Flowood, effective October 1, 2026.

Deacon Mark Bowden appointed as Chaplain at VA Hospital, in addition to duties at St. Jude Parish in Pearl.

Deacon Wesley Lindsay appointed as Coordinator of Mission Appeals, in addition to duties at Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle in Jackson.

Rev. Rickson Robert Antony, Rev. Hung Pham, Deacon Mark Bowden, Deacon Wesley Lindsay

Toward an understanding of suicide

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Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI

IN EXILE
By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
Every year I try to write an article on suicide because it is perhaps the most misunderstood of all deaths and it wreaks a unique havoc among the family and the loved ones left behind.

They are left with a blizzard of ambivalent and conflicting feelings: shame (What a shameful way to die); guilt (Somehow I should have done more); second-guessing (Why wasn’t I more attentive?); anger (This was an act of selfishness); and anxiety (How can this person go to heaven?) Moreover, in effect, this ruins the memory the person who died by suicide.

Throughout my articles on suicide and my book (Bruised & Wounded: Struggling to Understand Suicide) I have tried to emphasize that in most cases of suicide:

  • We are dealing with an extremely sensitive and wounded person, someone who at one level is too bruised to touch.
  • In suicide, a person dies against his or her will, akin to jumping out of a high-rise window because your clothing is on fire.
  • A death by suicide is the emotional and psychological equivalent of cancer, stroke, or heart-attack. For this reason we no longer use the verb “committed” suicide since we never say that someone committed cancer, or a stroke, or a heart attack. Suicide, in most cases, is not a voluntary act.
  • In many cases too, suicidal depression has a biochemical root.
  • We need not worry about that person’s eternal salvation. He or she had a good heart and God reads the heart. Sometimes a person can descend into a state into which the best of human love, medicine, and psychiatry can no longer reach, but faith assures us that there is no depressive hell that God cannot descend into and breathe out peace.
  • We need to give ourselves permission to feel all the ambivalent feelings we will have about our loved one and his or her manner of death. That’s a healthy grieving process that should not be short-circuited. Eventually the memory of our loved one and his or her spirit will come to us in peace and understanding.
  • Our task, after our grieving period, is to redeem the memory of our loved one so that our loved one’s life is not seen and judged through the prism of his or her death. Put their photos back up on the walls, no longer speak of them in hushed tones, celebrate their lives, and speak healthily of the special spirit they brought into the world.

    Margaret Atwood once said that sometimes things need to be said, and said, and said again, until they don’t need to be said anymore. These points on suicide still need to be said.

    Beyond these assertions, let me add two more perspectives on suicide that I have found helpful.

    The first one is a lesson from nature. Here’s Elilf Shafak, a botanist, reflecting on the suicide of his friend’s mother: “When I was a young botanist, I was asked to diagnose a tree that was not doing well. It seemed to be dying. After many tests, nothing conclusive, I took a shovel and began to dig, and I learned a lesson I have never forgotten, girdling was happening below the surface. The tree was being strangled by its own roots. If the encircling roots are not found on time, they start putting pressure on the tree and it just becomes too much to bear. … Your mother’s death has nothing to do with the absence of love. She was blooming and thriving with your love, and I’d like to believe with mine too, but underneath something was strangling her: the past, the memories, the roots.”

    Sometimes our own roots (complexity, trauma, confusion, frustration, biology) can be so overpowering that they work at killing the body. As James Hillman writes in his book “Suicide and the Soul,” sometimes there are deep things inside us that cannot make themselves heard and their frustration eventually works to strangle the body. Our own roots are sometimes such a complex mixture of soul and biology that we begin to asphyxiate.

    The second thought comes from Jeffrey Monroe in his book “Reading Buechner: Exploring the Work of a Master Memoirist, Novelist, Theologian, and Preacher.” Frederick Buechner, a Christian pastor, had to deal with his dad’s suicide. As a son, as man of faith, as a pastor trying to help others understand, he searched for answers vis-à-vis his dad’s suicide.
    The answers didn’t come easily, or seemingly at all. Eventually, Buechner came to this understanding of his dad’s suicide.
    The best pastoral answer in the face of inexplicable tragedy (his dad’s suicide) isn’t an answer at all. It’s a presence. On this side of eternity, we won’t get all the answers, not least to the question of suicide. Sometimes there is no satisfactory answer in our darkest moments, like when we lose a loved one to suicide. What matters most in those dark moments is that we can trust that God did not abandon our loved one. And what we desire more than answers is God.

(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser is a professor of spirituality at Oblate School of Theology and award-winning author.)