Andrew Bowden is in his third year of Theology at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. He entered the seminary after graduating from Brandon High School in 2014.
Andrew Bowden
Home parish: St. Jude, Pearl
Background: I am from Brandon. I have lived in Mississippi my whole life.
What is your vocation story? Who influenced you and why? I’ve wanted to be a priest for as long as I can remember. Father Martin Ruane, my first pastor, was a big influence.
What draws you to diocesan priesthood? And to the Diocese of Jackson? The Diocese of Jackson is my home. Prayer and discernment have made it clear the diocesan priesthood is how God wants me to serve him.
What are your hobbies/interests? I like to listen to music, walk in nature and read. I also play the French horn.
Who is your favorite saint? The Blessed Mother is easily my favorite saint.
Do you have a favorite devotion? The Servite rosary is probably my favorite devotion. It reflects on Mary’s seven sorrows.
Who is your favorite sports team? The New Orleans Saints.
What has been the most rewarding part of being a seminarian? And the most challenging? I’ve enjoyed getting to meet so many people in the diocese. The most challenging part has been being away from the diocese for so long [while I am away at seminary].
What advice do you have for those discerning a vocation? Seminary formation is difficult and will be a long journey, but it will be worth it in the end.
Where can people send you a personal note? Andrew Bowden, 2901 South Carrollton Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70118
JACKSON – The French Revolution hit the western world like a hurricane that overturned and overwhelmed everything in its wake. It followed on the heels of the American Revolution of 1776, a struggle that lasted 10 years following the storming of the Bastille in 1789. The forces that were eventually unleashed had been building for a long time, and the monarchies in England and France could not withstand the press of humanity yearning to breathe free.
Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz
Charles Dickens was born into this emerging new world in England in 1812 and would become for much of the 19th century a preeminent social critic. His classic A Tale of Two Cities addressed the widespread social ills that led to revolution and still persisted in his lifetime which he portrayed in the opening lines of his novel. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair … We were all going directly to heaven, or we were all going the other way.”
Ultimately, this classic work challenged the people of his day to go beyond the foolishness, incredulity, darkness and despair and embrace wisdom, belief, light and hope, in other words, redemption and new life on a personal and societal level. Ages earlier, St. Augustine called this the City of God, anchored in the death and resurrection of the Lord and his abiding presence.
How would be describe our nation and world in the 21st century? What direction are we going in? Is the pandemic creating the worst of times? The truth is that Charles Dicken’s words are timeless and can properly be applied to every generation.
Evidence abounds in our society of many people living righteously and compassionately as good citizens, people of diverse religious faith, or no faith. Consider the fire fighters who throw themselves into the path of infernos to save lives and property, the health care workers who daily care for those stricken by the coronavirus, the first responders who are now assisting those in the paths of the hurricanes, Laura and Marco.
Sadly, the reverse is all too true when we consider the culture of death that destroys life in the womb, tramples the poor, and deprives too many of the basics to flourish in this world. Of course, far too many squander the blessings of liberty and personal responsibility and choose a path in life that, in the words of Dickens, “is going the other way.” There is much to ponder and much to do.
Ever since Jesus gave the keys of the kingdom to Peter, the Catholic church has proclaimed the Gospel of salvation by immersing herself in the lives of the people and cultures where the Gospel takes root. The ultimate goal is the salvation of souls as St. Paul eloquently wrote, “with eyes fixed on the goal pushing on to secure the prize of God’s heavenward call in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians) But that’s not a directive to wear blinders as we journey through life, because the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of justice, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17) In our Catholic tradition hope for this world and the next is written into our DNA. It’s not an either or. From a historical perspective we know that if injustice is not confronted and overcome, then sooner or later revolutions explode on the scene. The convulsions and outcries that surge through our nation in the present moment must awaken the nation to reconcile and heal the past, and to recommit ourselves to the work of justice and peace in this generation, indisputable signs of the “City of God.”
From the “Constitution on the church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes,” during the Second Vatican Council, we have this inspired vision for our world. “Though earthly progress is to be carefully distinguished from the growth of Christ’s Kingdom, yet in so far as it can help toward the better ordering of human society it is of great importance to the Kingdom of God. The blessings of human dignity, brotherly communion and freedom will be found again in the world to come when Christ hands over to the Father an eternal and everlasting Kingdom, purified of all sin and transformed, a Kingdom of truth and life, of holiness and grace, of justice and peace.” Surely, this will be “the best of times” in the Kingdom of God.
La Revolución Francesa golpeó al mundo occidental como un huracán que volcó y arrasó todo a su paso. Siguió los pasos de la Revolución Americana de 1776, una lucha que duró 10 años después del asalto a la Bastilla en 1789. Las fuerzas que finalmente se desataron se habían estado construyendo durante mucho tiempo, y las monarquías en Inglaterra y Francia no pudieron resistir la presión de la humanidad que anhela respirar libremente.
Obispo Joseph R. Kopacz
Charles Dickens nació en este nuevo mundo emergente en Inglaterra en 1812 y se convertiría durante gran parte del siglo XIX en un crítico social preeminente. Su clásico Un Cuento de dos ciudades abordó los males sociales generalizados que llevaron a la revolución y que aún persistieron en su vida y que describió en las primeras líneas de su novela. “Fue el mejor de los tiempos, fue el peor de los tiempos, fue la era de la sabiduría, fue la era de la necedad, fue la época de la fe, fue la época de la incredulidad, fue la época de la luz, era la temporada de las tinieblas, era el manantial de la esperanza, era el invierno de la desesperación … Todos íbamos directamente al cielo, o todos íbamos en sentido contrario”. En última instancia, esta obra clásica desafió a la gente de su época a ir más allá de la tontería, la incredulidad, la oscuridad y la desesperación y abrazar la sabiduría, la fe, la luz y la esperanza, en otras palabras, la redención y la nueva vida a nivel personal y social. Edades anteriores, San Agustín la llamó la Ciudad de Dios, anclada en la muerte y resurrección del Señor y su presencia permanente.
¿Cómo describiría nuestra nación y el mundo en el siglo XXI? ¿En qué dirección vamos? ¿Está la pandemia creando el peor de los tiempos? La verdad es que las palabras de Charles Dickens son atemporales y pueden aplicarse correctamente a todas las generaciones.
En nuestra sociedad abundan las pruebas de que muchas personas viven con rectitud y compasión como buenos ciudadanos, personas de diversas religiones o sin fe. Considere a los bomberos que se lanzan al camino de los infiernos para salvar vidas y propiedades, los trabajadores de la salud que diariamente cuidan a los afectados por el virus, los primeros socorristas que ahora están ayudando a quienes se encuentran en el camino de los huracanes, Laura y Marco. Lamentablemente, lo contrario es demasiado cierto cuando consideramos la cultura de la muerte que destruye la vida en el útero, pisotea a los pobres y priva a muchos de los elementos básicos para prosperar en este mundo. Por supuesto, demasiados desperdician las bendiciones de la libertad y la responsabilidad personal y eligen un camino en la vida que, en palabras de Dickens, “va en sentido contrario”. Hay mucho que reflexionar y mucho que hacer.
Desde que Jesús entregó las llaves del reino a Pedro, la Iglesia católica ha proclamado el Evangelio de la salvación sumergiéndose en la vida de las personas y culturas donde se arraiga el Evangelio. El objetivo final es la salvación de las almas, como escribió elocuentemente San Pablo, “ para esforzarme por alcanzar lo que está delante, 14 para llegar a la meta y ganar el premio celestial que Dios nos llama a recibir por medio de Cristo Jesús.” (Filipenses 3:13-14) Pero esa no es una directiva para usar ligeramente mientras viajamos por la vida, porque el Reino de Dios no es una cuestión de comer y beber, sino de justicia, paz y gozo en el Espíritu Santo. (Romanos 14:17)
En nuestra tradición católica, la esperanza para este mundo y el próximo está escrita en nuestro ADN. No es uno o la otro. Desde una perspectiva histórica, sabemos que, si no se afronta y se supera la injusticia, en la escena, tarde o temprano, estallan revoluciones. Las convulsiones y clamores que surgen en nuestra nación en el momento presente deben despertar a la nación para reconciliar y sanar el pasado, y para comprometernos todos con la obra de justicia y paz en esta generación, signos indiscutibles de la “Ciudad de Dios.”
Del documento ”Sobre la Iglesia en el Mundo Actual, Gaudium et Spes,” durante el Concilio Vaticano II, tenemos esta visión inspirada de nuestro mundo. “Aunque el progreso terrenal debe distinguirse cuidadosamente del crecimiento del Reino de Cristo, sin embargo, en la medida en que puede ayudar a un mejor orden de la sociedad humana, es de gran importancia para el Reino de Dios. Las bendiciones de la dignidad humana, la comunión fraternal y la libertad se encontrarán nuevamente en el mundo venidero cuando Cristo entregue al Padre un Reino eterno, purificado de todo pecado y transformado, un Reino de verdad y vida, de santidad y gracia, de justicia y paz“.
De seguro, este será “el mejor de los tiempos” en el Reino de Dios.
By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Church teaching on giving priority to the well-being of the poor and marginalized is not a political or ideological choice; it lies at the very heart of the Gospel, Pope Francis said. The preferential option for the poor, which includes feeding the hungry and drawing close to the excluded, “is the key criterion of Christian authenticity,” he said Aug. 19 during his weekly general audience. The principle also would include making sure that any vaccine developed for the novel coronavirus helps everyone, he added. “It would be sad,” he said, if priority for a vaccine “were to be given to the richest. It would be sad if this vaccine were to become the property of this nation or another, rather than universal and for all.” During his audience, livestreamed from the library of the Apostolic Palace, Pope Francis continued a series of talks on the principles of the church’s social doctrine as a guide for healing and building a better future, particularly as the world is struggling with a pandemic and its negative effects.
Pope Francis leads his general audience in the library of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican Aug. 19, 2020. The pope said that the church’s preferential option for the poor includes making sure any vaccine developed for COVID-19 helps everyone. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
In fact, he said, a proper response to the pandemic is twofold: “On the one hand, it is essential to find a cure for this small but terrible virus, which has brought the whole world to its knees. On the other, we must also cure a larger virus, that of social injustice, inequality of opportunity, marginalization and the lack of protection for the weakest.” “It would be a scandal if all of the economic assistance we are observing – most of it with public money – were to focus on rescuing those industries that do not contribute to the inclusion of the excluded, the promotion of the least, the common good or the care of creation,” the pope said. These are the four criteria that should be used “for choosing which industries should be helped: those which contribute to the inclusion of the excluded, to the promotion of the least, to the common good and the care of creation.” Pope Francis said the COVID-19 pandemic “has exposed the plight of the poor and the great inequality that reigns in the world” and it has made those inequalities and discrimination even worse. One of the responses that must not be missing is the preferential option for the poor, he said. This key element of the church’s social teaching “is not a political option, nor is it an ideological option,” he said; it is “at the center of the Gospel.” Jesus “stood among the sick, the poor, the excluded, showing them God’s merciful love,” he said. The preferential option for the poor is a duty for all Christians and communities, he said, and it means doing more than providing needed assistance; it requires remedying the root causes and problems that lead to the need for aid. “Many people want to return to normality” and get back to business, the pope said, but this “normality” must not entail ongoing social injustice and the degradation of the environment. “The pandemic is a crisis, and we do not emerge from a crisis the same as before: either we come out of it better or we come out of it worse,” he said. “We must come out of it better” and build something different. The world needs an economy and remedies that do not “poison society, such as profits not linked to the creation of dignified jobs,” but rather profits that benefit the general public. “We must act now to heal the epidemics caused by small, invisible viruses and to heal those caused by the great and visible social injustices,” he said. By “starting from the love of God, placing the peripheries at the center and the last in first place,” he said, “a healthier world will be possible.” The pope concluded by praying, “May the Lord help us and give us the strength to come out of it better, responding to the needs of today’s world.”
I received an email from Father Augustine Foley recently. Father Augustine is a Benedictine monk who teaches philosophy to the seminarians at St. Joseph Seminary College in Covington, Louisiana. Everyone who attends St. Ben’s (nicknamed that thanks to the Benedictines who run the place) know that Father Augustine is the monk who takes photos: photos of birds, deer, monastic liturgies, football games between the seminarians, etc.
Father Nick Adam
If something is happening on campus, Father Augustine is taking a photo of it. So, the email I received from Father Augustine was, of course, a photo. It was a picture of Grayson Foley (no relation to the photographer!), one of our newest seminarians, fishing the pond adjacent to the beautiful Abbey Church.
I was struck by the photo not just because it was a particularly beautiful shot of the Abbey grounds, but also because just eight years ago in August of 2012, I was Grayson. I was brand new at the seminary and struck by the beauty of the place. I loved the acreage that I could explore and the time I could spend speaking to the Lord by one of the ponds or running the trails through the woods. Grayson, and our five other seminarians, are all at different stages of their priestly formation, but all of them are getting the help that they need to make a diligent discernment, to confidently declare “yea or nay” on the question of diocesan priesthood.
It has been such a joy to see two new men have the courage to ask that question this year. I pray that their time in seminary is as joy-filled as mine was. If you look at the photo, you see a picture of peace. Peace comes to our heart when we finally stop trying to do everything on our own and we begin to allow the Lord to help us decide what we will do with our lives. Peace comes when we bring our sufferings and our joys and our fears and our triumphs to God and we see our life through the lens of the Lord. In short, peace comes when we put God first.
Grayson Foley enjoys a quite moment of fishing on the pond adjacent to Abbey Church at St. Joseph Seminary College in Covington, Louisiana. (Photo by Father Augustine Foley, O.S.B.)
As I have stated in this space many times, there are men and women who are being called to discern religious life in our diocese right now, I hazard to say many more than those who are currently in discernment are being called. If you want to find peace, give your life over to the Lord, give Him the time and space to work with you, mold you, form you and love you. As challenging as priesthood has been over the past two plus years, I would not change a thing. I am doing what I was called to do, and there is a measure of peace and stillness in my heart despite any disturbances that arise at the surface. I ask the reader to seek to answer this question: have I placed God at the forefront of my life, have I even asked the question in prayer, Lord, what do you want me to do with my life? If that question remains unanswered, come speak with me. That’s what I’m here to do, to help faithful Catholics find that peace that comes from listening to God’s call and following his will in your life.
Vocations Events
Friday, October 9, 2020 – First annual Homegrown Harvest Gala and Fundraiser (virtual)
IN EXILE By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI Imagine this. You are the dutiful daughter or son and your mother is widowed and living in an assisted living facility. You happen to be living close by while your sister is living across the country, thousands of miles away. So the weight falls on you to be the one to help take care of your mother. You dutifully visit her each day. Every afternoon, on route home from work, you stop and spend an hour with her as she has her early dinner. And you do this faithfully, five times a week, year after year. As you spend this hour each day with your mother, year after year, how many times during the course of a year will you have a truly stimulating and deep conversation with your mother? Once? Twice? Never? What are you talking about each day? Trivial things: the weather, your favorite sports team, what your kids are doing, the latest show on television, her aches and pains, and the mundane details of your own life. Occasionally you might even doze off for a while as she eats her early dinner. In a good year, perhaps once or twice, the conversation will take on some depth and the two of you will share more deeply about something of importance; but, save for that rare occasion, you will simply be filling in the time each day with superficial conversation.
Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
But, and this is the question, are those daily visits with your mother in fact superficial, merely functionary because your conversations aren’t deep? Are you simply going through the motions of intimate relationship because of duty? Is anything deep happening? Well, compare this with your sister who is (conveniently) living across the country and comes home once a year to visit your mother. When she visits, both she and your mother are wonderfully animated, they embrace enthusiastically, shed some tears upon seeing each other, and seemingly talk about things beyond the weather, their favorite sports teams, and their own tiredness. And you could kill them both! It seems that in this once-a-year meeting they have something that you, who visit daily, do not have. But is this true? Is what is happening between your sister and your mother in fact deeper than what is occurring each day when you visit your mother? Absolutely not. What they have is, no doubt, more emotional and more affective, but it is, at the end of day, not particularly deep. When your mother dies, you will know your mother better than anyone else knows her and you will be much closer to her than your sister. Why? Because through all those days when you visited her and seemed to talk about nothing beyond the weather, some deeper things were happening under the surface. When your sister visited your mother things were happening on the surface (though emotionally and affectively the surface can look wonderfully more intriguing than what lies beneath it.) That is why honeymoons look better than marriage. What your sister had with your mother is what novices experience in prayer and what couples experience on a honeymoon. What you had with your mother is what people experience in prayer and relationships when they are faithful over a long period of time. At a certain level of intimacy in all our relationships, including our relationship with God in prayer, the emotions and the affectivity (wonderful as they are) will become less and less important and simple presence, just being together, will become paramount. Previous to that, the important things were happening on the surface and emotions and affectivity were important; now deep bonding is happening beneath the surface and emotions and affectivity recede in importance. At a certain depth of relationship just being present to each other is what is important. Too often, both popular psychology and popular spirituality do not really grasp this and consequently confuse the novice for the proficient, the honeymoon for the wedding, and the surface for the depth. In all of our relationships, we cannot make promises as to how we will always feel, but we can make promises to always be faithful, to show up, to be there, even if we are only talking about the weather, our favorite sports team, the latest television program, or our own tiredness. And it is okay occasionally to fall asleep while there because as Therese of Lisieux once said: a little child is equally pleasing to its parents, awake or asleep, probably more asleep! That also holds true for prayer. God does not mind us occasionally napping while at prayer because we are there and that is enough. The great Spanish doctor of the soul John of the Cross tells us that as we travel deeper into any relationship, be it with God in prayer, with each other in intimacy, or with the community at large in service, eventually the surface will be less emotive and less affective and the deeper things will begin to happen under the surface.
(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser, theologian, teacher and award-winning author, is President of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas. He can be contacted through his website www.ronrolheiser.com.)
Spirit and truth By Father Aaron Williams Our study of the liturgies of Holy Week picks up in this edition with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday night. For the sake of these columns, I will save discussion of the Chrism Mass for a later issue since this Mass is historically new and deserves a fuller treatment. In older times, the ‘Chrism Mass’ was simply the Mass of Holy Thursday celebrated in the Cathedral church. From an aesthetic and ceremonial perspective, the Holy Thursday Mass is the simplest of the Triduum lituriges. In many ways it resembles a ‘normal’ Mass, which seems fitting on the night which honors the institution of the Mass itself. From the beginning of the Mass, the overarching theme of the Triduum is put forward. The entrance antiphon begins, “Let us glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This same text is used as the entrance antiphon only on one other occasion in the year: Sept. 14, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. We tend to try to place ‘themes’ upon the Triduum liturgies, but the Church desires us understand these rites as a continual zooming in on the one Paschal Mystery. Holy Thursday should be understood as a Mass of the Passion, and retain the same somber tone that we would approach Good Friday. It is for this reason that the rubrics of the Holy Thursday Mass tell us that following the chanting of the Gloria, no instruments or bells are used until the Gloria at the Easter Vigil. The remainder of the Mass is sung a cappella. All through Lent, the church gradually strips away the ceremonial surroundings of the liturgy, and this comes to a climax on Holy Thursday night. The Gospel read, both in the modern from and in the traditional Missal, does not actually tell the story of the institution of the Eucharist. Rather, the Gospel of the foot washing from St. John is used. This is to underscore the theme of the Passion in the Holy Thursday Mass. The reading of the foot washing on Holy Thursday isn’t a disconnected moment from the Triduum. Those who return for Good Friday will find that the Passion reading at that service will pick up where the previous night finished — again to underscore the one continual mystery celebrated through the Triduum. In the Holy Week rites before 1955, there was no foot washing rite at this point. The Mandatum, as it is known, formerly was a rite reserved for Cathedrals and Monasteries when new members would be added to the clergy or monastic community. The head of the community would wash the new member’s feet while the community chanted, “Mandatum novum do vobis … I give you a new commandment, love one another as I have loved you.”
Father Aaron Williams
Pope Pius XII gave permission for this rite to be celebrated after the Holy Thursday Mass. In the later reform of Holy Week in 1955, the Mandatum is inserted into the Missal as an optional rite after the gospel — which made this rite unique considering there is very little that is optional in the traditional liturgical books. The modern liturgical books maintains the Mandatum as an optional rite, but moves its location to after the homily, rather than after the gospel. The traditional chant is still provided as an optional text to be chanted during the rite. When this rite is celebrated, it must be the priest to perform the washing (and multiple priests should not be used). The priest takes the place of Christ, strips off his chasuble, and puts on a linen apron (or an amici tied about his waist). He should go one-by-one to each person and wash and dry at least their right foot. Remember that the theme of the entire Triduum is the Passion, so the emphasis here is that the priest, representing Christ, is also representing how Christ’s sacrifice was made not simply for all of us, but for each of us personally, which is why only the priest must celebrate this rite. Christ personally offers himself up for each of us in his Passion. The Mass continues from this point as normal. The First Eucharistic Prayer (the Roman Canon) must be used in this Mass, and it takes a special form where, prior to the institution narrative, reference is made to the fact that the Eucharist was instituted on Holy Thursday night. Following communion, a ciborium (not a monstrance) remains on the altar. After the post-communion prayer, all kneel and the priest incenses the ciborium. Putting on a humeral veil, the priest carries the ciborium veiled around the church in a solemn procession with incense and lamps. It is appropriate that some members of the faithful follow this procession as at least a representation of the parish. The procession leads to a special altar which is richly decorated and prepared as the place of reservation for the next two nights. This altar is traditionally called the ‘Sepulchre’ or tomb. Some modern theologians compare this altar to the Garden of Gethsemane, but traditionally it is understood as a representation of the tomb of Christ, since the Holy Thursday Mass is a celebration of the Passion and not simply of Holy Thursday night. In medieval rites, this altar had a significant role in the Easter liturgy, which we will visit at another time. After the procession, the ciborium is placed inside the temporary tabernacle and the door is shut. Candles are left burning and adoration (without a monstrance) is kept solemnly until midnight. After that point, adoration may continue more simply, but the altar is to be left decorated through the Triduum — which is why it is best this altar be in another place than the church itself.
(Father Aaron Williams is the administrator at St. Joseph Parish in Greenville)
Kneading Faith By Fran Lavelle You can ask anyone who knows me, I love to cook. I love making wholesome and healthy meals and I absolutely love having people over for dinner. I love every minute of meal planning, shopping, meal prep, table setting, wine chilling, dessert making, and I love most the gathering of friends and family around my big country table. The pandemic has authoritatively terminated dinner parties and holiday gatherings since mid-March and will likely continue to scrub such activities for some time into the future. Not only have our gatherings been deferred but the glorious trip to Mother Kroger has been completely and utterly transformed. Prior to the pandemic I never and I mean never thought I would utilize the “clicklist” shopping option at my local Kroger. Since the pandemic I use this option almost weekly and order my Mom’s groceries the same way. So, you are asking yourself, what do dinner parties and grocery shopping have to do with spirituality? Here is the thing, as a society we have grown so accustom to having what we want, when we want. For most of us, we are a might bit demanding and our expectations for variety and quality are high. In a world of excess, it is easy to grow accustom to having what we want regardless of the season. But our present reality has made a mockery of our need for instant gratification and the best of the best. We have lost control of the things we have taken for granted like fully stocked shelves at the grocery store. The reality of having someone else shop for you means that you no longer control which bunch of bananas ends up in your cart. And we all know where we stand on the banana matrix of ripeness. If you are like me, slightly speckled bananas are considered over-ripe. If substitutions are made, you are not the one making that decision. On more than one occasion, I have found myself singing the Rolling Stones, “You can’t always get what you want” whilst unloading my “clicklist” groceries. Therein lies the deeper lesson of this pandemic. This is a season of life marked by the destructive nature of an uncontrollable virus, but also marked by the opportunity to let go of our sense of control and seek God’s will. Ecclesiastes 3:1-5 reminds us, “There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens. A time to give birth, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them; a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces.” This ebb and flow of life’s events recognizes a proper time for everything under the sun. What has this time of pandemic been for you? In March, I thought we would shelter in place for a few weeks, beat down this beast called coronavirus and be back in business by mid-April. I saw an opportunity for a hard reset that would take us out of the unhealthy and all-consuming busyness of our lives. Five months into this gig and the unhealthy busyness is creeping back in. I do not want to backslide. So, I am making an effort to reprioritize how I give myself to God, my family and my work. We will look back on this time in the years to come and think about the many ways our lives have been forever changed by the pandemic. Some of them are as small as giving up control of what tomatoes end up in our shopping cart. Some of them will be seismic shifts in how we live. Sorting out what gifts we take with us from this pandemic and what we leave behind might be difficult. Just like the parable of the wheat and the weeds we may need to wait until harvest time to separate what is life giving from the things that just are not that important anymore. For now, I am leaning in. I know there are important lessons to be learned in all of this. The pandemic and the Kroger “clicklist” continue to remind me that I will not always get what I want, what I get may be less than what I expect, and there is a season for everything.
(Fran Lavelle is the Director of Faith Formation for the Diocese of Jackson)
By Catholic News Service NEW HAVEN, Conn. (CNS) – Every day Knights of Columbus live out the principles of charity, unity and fraternity, and through this daily witness in society, they must redouble their efforts to combat racism, violence and hatred, the top Knight told his confreres. “Living these principles,” Supreme Knight Carl Anderson said, “is the highest expression of patriotism today.” He made the comments in an address the evening of Aug. 4 during the fraternal organization’s 138th annual convention, held virtually for the first time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Many of our fellow citizens are still treated differently because of the color of their skin,” said Anderson. “Whenever and wherever this happens, it is wrong. And it must be righted.” Anderson recommitted the Knights to its programs in support of Native Americans and to foster an “honest recounting of their history.” He lamented the recent desecration of churches and statues of saints, especially St. Junipero Serra, whom he called a “heroic and saintly missionary.” “Where others seek to divide,” said Anderson, “let us promote unity. And where racism festers, let us build fraternity.” “Living in fraternity is what we do every day,” said Anderson. “It is this commitment to fraternity that gives us the strength to do the great works of charity that our times demand.” The convention, which had as its theme “Knights of Fraternity,” officially opened with an evening Mass Aug. 4 celebrated by Hartford Archbishop Leonard. P. Blair at historic St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, where Father Michael J. McGivney founded the Knights of Columbus and where his remains are interred.
Carl Anderson, CEO of the Knights of Columbus, is seen Aug. 6, 2019, at the 137th annual Knights convention in Minneapolis. On Aug. 4, 2020, during the Knight’s 138th annual convention in New Haven, Conn., Anderson asked members to redouble efforts to fight racism, violence and hatred through their principles of charity and unity. (CNS photo/Tamino Petelinsek, courtesy Knights of Columbus)
The archbishop had news of his own to share: Father McGivney’s beatification will take place at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford Oct. 31. The Knights expect COVID-19 restrictions to be in place on the date of the beatification, and are making preparations to broadcast the Mass to a worldwide audience so the public is able to join the celebration. Ahead of the Mass at St. Mary’s Church, Anderson announced the Knights of Columbus Museum in New Haven will be transformed into the Blessed Michael J. McGivney Pilgrimage Center. On May 27, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis, who met with the board of directors of the Knights of Columbus in February, had signed the decree recognizing a miracle through the intercession of Father McGivney, clearing the way for his beatification. Once he is beatified, he will be called “Blessed.” In general, confirmation of a second miracle occurring through the intercession of the sainthood candidate is needed for canonization. In his address, Anderson credited Father McGivney, as a “spiritual genius” for bringing men together as brothers who care for others through lives of charity. Anderson suggested that Father McGivney’s beatification is timely since he understood well the pain of prejudice and discrimination as religious bigotry in the 19th-century targeted Catholics. However, the priest and his contemporaries identified a uniquely American way forward. “They saw in the freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment a path offered to them that could be found in no other country,” said Anderson. He cited a similar insight expressed by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who placed hope in the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence because they constitute a “promissory note to … every American.” Anderson also used his addressed to deliver the Knights’ annual report, which shows that Knights donated more than $187 million and volunteered more than 77 million hours of service valued at more than $2 billion. The organization responded to the pandemic with the Knights’ locally driven “Leave No Neighbor Behind” program to help neighbors most vulnerable to the illness, as well as blood drives and support for food banks in the U.S and Canada. Other initiatives included million-dollar lines of credit to dioceses in financial trouble and financial aid to the Vatican’s Bambino Gesu hospital for children in Rome. Those programs are being carried out in tandem with the Knights’ ongoing activities for the disabled via Special Olympics and programs to help the needy, including Coats for Kids and disaster relief. Despite the economic downturn due to the virus, Anderson reported insurance sales of $8.4 billion over the past 12 months with agents adopting a virtual business model since the start of the pandemic. With nearly $27 billion in assets under management, he said, the Knights of Columbus is meeting both its financial obligations, and its charitable goals. In April, the Knights of Columbus was one of six companies to receive the highest ranking in a Standard & Poor’s review of North American life insurance companies. The rankings released April 6 give the Knights an AA+ and in the categories of “outlook,” “business risk profile” and “financial risk profile,” the Knights are considered, respectively “stable,” “very strong” and excellent. Others insurance companies among the six are Guardian Life Insurance Group and New York Life Insurance Group. Anderson had a final word about Father McGivney’s beatification and how it is both a cause for joy and a call to higher standards of charity, unity and fraternity. “We step forward together,” he said, “as Knights of Columbus – ‘Knights of Fraternity’ – to continue our great work.”
JACKSON – While working as a district sales manager for Nissan Motor Corporation, Father Bill Henry lived a successful, comfortable life. But after one particularly powerful weekend prayer retreat, he knew he was being called to move in a different direction. He answered that call, and today, Father Henry is celebrating his retirement after 36 years of service in the priesthood.
Father Bill Henry retired in June 2020. He served the Diocese of Jackson for 36 years at the following parishes: St. Joseph Greenville, St. Therese Jackson, St. Alphonsus McComb, St. Teresa of Avila Chatawa and at St. Joseph High School.
“The Lord just started speaking to me,” Father Henry said of that crucial weekend back in his early adult life. “It wouldn’t quit, like a toothache. I finally said, ‘if this is what You want me to do, I’ll do it.’”
So, Henry set a personal goal for himself — if he was going to quit the car business, he wanted to quit on top. And that’s what he did. “It was the weirdest thing I’d ever seen in my life,” Father Henry recalled. “On my final day with Nissan, I had 18 dealers in Louisiana, and they broke every sales record. It was just awesome; it was my sendoff. I left there, all I owned was a new car and what was in it, but I felt like a millionaire. I’ll never be able to put my finger on that feeling of freedom and richness, and when I walked in that door of the seminary, there was no doubt that was where I was meant to be.”
Born in Orlando, Florida, Father Henry was raised in Washington state and spent much of his early adult life on the West Coast before moving to Jackson to work for Nissan. He attended Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology, and when he finished there, he made his way back to Mississippi.
After being at St. Therese Church, St. Joseph’s High School and the vocations office, all in Jackson, Father Henry became a part-time administrator at St. Anne’s in Carthage before his first pastorship at St. Alphonsus in McComb. He spent 11 years in McComb before going back to St. Therese in Jackson, and finally, his last assignment of eight years at St. Joseph in Greenville.
“A highlight for me was just the ministry as a whole,” Father Henry said of his years as a full-time priest. “It’s been a very interesting journey for me, but it has always been great to see people growing in their faith. That’s what I really enjoy.”
And just as Father Henry kept himself busy as a priest, he plans to stay active in retirement with spiritual direction workshops and events. He has been very involved with the Marian Servants of Divine Providence, a group that serves through retreats and other ministries.
“Sometimes we get stuck spiritually, and we don’t move on. We work on the roadblocks and show people how our woundedness, sin and other things keep us from moving on and growing spiritually,” Father Henry said of a workshop scheduled for late September in Greenwood.
But it won’t be all work all the time — Father Henry is looking forward to a little downtime, as well.
“I also plan to do a little fishing and bike riding as part of my everyday exercise,” he said. “I have a lot of good friends in the area, so retirement is a very enriching experience for me right now.”
