MARC(ed) for reentry

By Sister Madeline Kavanagh, DC
JACKSON – It was an unusual beginning. Slow. Something like a seed finding its way to the right spot at the best time with just enough support. Unlikely, like matching summer with winter, but it happened.
Just two years ago a seasoned prison chaplain met up with an over seasoned “nun” and together they nurtured a dream into being. First there was the discovery of a common concern for prisoners and a mutually respected program called Getting Ahead While Getting Out. Then came the resources for a beginning and in the spring of 2018 the workshop that ignited the initial spark. The Mississippi Association for Returning Citizens came into being, happy to go by its acronym MARC.
Although it is founded on faith-based principles, MARC’s name is meant to attract and serve people of various faith traditions as well as those not practicing any particular faith.

Since that time, a core group of faithful members was formed and meets monthly at the very welcoming St. Paul Flowood.
Several facilitators were trained, and two prisons have opened their doors in Pearl and Parchman. Two groups of prisoners have graduated and are waiting for their release dates while two groups are in process. Meanwhile in January two more groups are expected to begin the program.
In November MARC sponsored two days of training, the first entitled Bridges Out of Poverty which address poverty at the individual, organizational and community levels whereby people in poverty become planners and decision makers. The second day dealt with the Getting Ahead While Getting Out program which is designed to reduce the current problem of released prisoners reoffending. Participants come to learn more about their personal and situational reality, begin building resources, accept responsibility and work together while preparing a reentry plan designed by the prisoner for his or her particular reality.
Philip DeVol, one of the authors of Bridges Out of Poverty, led the session saying that “people who are in poverty and people who are coming out of prison can do all they can possibly do and still run into barriers – and the barriers often come from our institutions. So, our institutions have to make changes too.”
The MARC is now a fully accredited 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to accompanying prisoners in their pre-release preparations and supporting them as returning citizens by way of networking with service providers and volunteers who maintain support during those difficult initial months of reentry.

This writer happens to be that over seasoned “nun” who sees the present need for generous people, gifted with the recognition that we all are called by God who loves ALL of us to share our gifts of time, talent and treasure; and that some are called and welcomed to provide that support through MARC.
If you would like to learn more about MARC visit https://marcreentry.org or call Chaplain Marvin Edwards at (601) 594-8254.

Nativity sets keep Christ in Christmas year-round for Vermont Catholic

By Cori Fugere Urban
GUILFORD, Vt. (CNS) – Christmas comes early to Shirley Squires’ Guilford home.
Actually, it never quiet leaves her home if the scores of Nativity sets she leaves on display year round count as keeping Christ in Christmas 365 days a year.

Shirley Squires of Guilford, Vt., stands near a cabinet that holds only a fraction of her Nativity set collection Oct. 23, 2019. Squires, a parishioner of St. Michael Church in Brattleboro, has collected more than 1,500 Nativity sets. (CNS photo/Cori Fugere Urban, Vermont Catholic)

Squires, a parishioner of St. Michael Church in Brattleboro, has collected more than 1,500 Nativity sets, and though she leaves many on display in hutches and in one bay of her detached garage, come August she begins setting up the others throughout her white clapboard home.
“It used to be a two-bedroom,” she said with a smile, explaining that those second-floor rooms are now the permanent home of part of her collection; one room holds a Nativity set of more than 200 pieces.
She now sleeps in a daybed in the first-floor sunroom, where plenty of sunshine pours in, shimmering through glass Nativities and illuminating colorful ones that fill two shelves built in front of the windows overlooking woods and fields.
When she takes the Nativities down in that room at the end of January, she replaces them with scores of family photographs.
Squires is the mother of eight and has 20 grandchildren, 22 great grandchildren and two great, great grandchildren.
Members of her family have made Nativities for her – one uses photographs of family members as the faces of the angels and people in the Nativity scene. Another is made of shells.
Squires herself has crocheted or made of ceramics some of her sets.
Friends and family, children from St. Michael School in Brattleboro and even people she doesn’t know, have been giving her Nativities since she began collecting them in the early 1990s after the death of her husband and son. She had long liked Nativities and had a few sets, but collecting them at that point helped her forget the tragedies she had endured.
At least 55 countries are represented in her collection – Brazil, Italy, Peru, Ecuador, Israel, Germany, Tanzania and Switzerland, to name a few. Some Nativity sets represent different cultures, like the Amish, and some feature penguins, bears or other animals in human roles. In a couple of the scenes Joseph holds the Baby Jesus.
The Nativity sets – with anywhere from one piece to a couple hundred – range from the sophisticated and expensive, the whimsical and handmade and the tiny to the nearly life-size (the latter displayed outdoors). She has a tissue box with a Nativity design, paper gift bags, music boxes, ornaments and even a footstool with a nativity picture. Some are vintage, others new.
And they come from a variety of manufacturers such as Lladro, Jim Shore, Fontanini, Willow Tree, Avon and Belleek, and they are made of various materials including wood, ceramic, glass, wool, beeswax, paper and wire. There’s even a Lego Nativity her great grandson made, and she won a pewter one at a St. Michael’s bazaar raffle.
Although much of her collection has been given to her, she has bought some sets – some on sale, some on trips, some in increments. It’s difficult for her to pick a favorite, but the one her daughter Donna Rhodes made with photos of family members is one of them along with the large Fontanini set in an upstairs room.
And even though she is surrounded by Nativity sets, Squires never feels like there is too much Christmas. “It’s my favorite time of year. It’s always been my favorite time of year,” she told Vermont Catholic, Burlington’s diocesan publication.
From the first of December until the end of January, Squires opens her home by appointment to those who would like to see her Nativity collection, often wearing a special light purple Nativity sweatshirt. “When I see the joy on people’s faces, it makes it all worthwhile,” said the 89-year-old, who is living in the house she grew up in.
She makes friends with some of her visitors, and some have returned each year since she began displaying her collection for others to see 21 years ago; she’s only missed one year after triple bypass surgery about six years ago.
She receives nearly 300 visitors to see the Nativity sets each year.
The Nativity scenes represent is what is most important: her faith. “Looking at them keeps it in my mind that it all started with a little baby,” Jesus, she said.
“Without my faith I would not have gotten through all the struggles,” she said, pointing to a photograph of one of her grandsons and his girlfriend who died in an automobile crash. “My faith means everything to me.”

(Urban is content editor/staff writer for Vermont Catholic, official publication of the Diocese of Burlington.)

40 Años de Amor por Guadalupe en Mississippi

Por Berta Mexidor
JACKSON – Millones de peregrinos se agrupan la noche del día 11 de diciembre frente a la Basílica de Nuestra señora de Guadalupe, para saludar a la patrona de las Américas. Miles de peregrinos acampan frente a la Basílica. Se crea un desorden de amor, fe y alabanza que solo una virgen puede organizar y celebrar con éxito.

Cada año se repite el mismo amor por la madre de Dios, compartido por millones de Marianos alrededor del mundo. Cuando las puertas se abren, miles de peregrinos cantan Las Mañanitas y fuera de la Basílica comienza la fiesta, desfile de colores, danzas y música, para la Virgen de Guadalupe. Con ese mismo ánimo, millones de mexicanos y fervientes guadalupanos alrededor del mundo celebran a la reina mestiza.
Aquí, en el centro sur de los Estados Unidos, los mexicanos han traído las tradiciones a la Diócesis de Jackson Mississippi y estas han sido adoptadas por la diversidad de nacionales y extranjeros que la pueblan:
Mañanitas: Algunas parroquias celebran la tradición de cantar Feliz Cumpleaños a la Virgen a medianoche o lo hacen entre las cuatro y cinco de la mañana, antes de ir a trabajar. Esta tradición se ha adaptado y en algunos lugares les llaman Nochecitas, cuando el canto del mariachi se hace en la tarde noche.

Representación de la Aparición: La historia de Juan Diego, la aparición de la Virgen y el milagro es representada tradicionalmente. Las nuevas generaciones escuchan, participan en la misma y, con el pasar de los años, continúan la tradición. Esta es una de las historias católicas mas reproducidas, contadas y conocidas por millones de católicos y no creyentes.
Peregrinación, Procesión y Fiesta: No solo en la capital mexicana se celebra en grande a la Virgen de Guadalupe, en San Luis de la Paz, Guanajuato, México, es una atracción los doce días de peregrinación, danza y acción de gracias, en vísperas al día 12. Noche tras noche, los pobladores, dueños de negocios, escuelas y peregrinos en general, desfilan por las calles en una reunión de fe. En el exilio, se siguen las fiestas en Facebook @ San Luis de la Paz.
En la diócesis de Jackson, cada parroquia adapta su fiesta, para que todos los parroquianos puedan pagar sus respetos. Algunos comienzan las Mañanitas a las 4 de la mañana y otros hacen una vigilia desde el día 11. Las celebraciones incluyen novenas y el Santo Rosario.
Niños: Los niños ya nacen guadalupanos y de adultos siguen la tradición. Para estas fiestas los padres visten a sus hijos representando a la Virgen o Juan Diego, vestidos con la imagen de la Guadalupe, en trajes típicos y de danzas flokloricas.

Danzas y Bailes Azteca, Concheros o Danza de la conquista: Según los sitios Wikipedia y el canal de youtube Folklor Maniacos, el documental “Concheros Somos” de Eduardo Guerra, y en conversacion con varios mexicanos, los Concheros es el nombre más emblemático de la danza, que reúne el sincretismo de la cultura indígena prehispánica con las tradiciones cristianas. Los frailes que llegaron a las Américas para la conquista espiritual ayudaron, en gran parte, a fundir los dos mundos en una cultura que ha transcendido el tiempo. Generalmente estas danzas son conocidas como: «danza de los concheros», «danza de la tradición», «danza azteca o mexica» o «danza de la conquista», adaptándose a las principales fiestas católicas.
Cuando se les pregunta a los grupos de danza creados en las Diócesis de Jackson y Memphis sobre el nombre dado, algunos se hacen llamar Danza Azteca, Matachines o Concheros. La regla se ha convertido en llamar a la danza según la parroquia a la que pertenecen, “Danza Azteca de la Catedral de San Pedro,” “Danza Guadalupana,” de Santa Teresa de Jackson,” y en Memphis están entre otros, “Matachines del Sagrado Corazón,” “Matachines “Guadalupana de San Felipe,” Matachines, “Guadalupana de la Ascensión” y “Matachines de San Miguel Arcángel.”
Concheros o Danza de la conquista: Esta es una de las danzas drama que ilustran la valentía de los guerreros durante la conquista y la aceptación del único Dios verdadero. Los concheros asumen su nombre por la concha, instrumento de diez cuerdas que se hace del caparazón del armadillo o ayotoste.

Esta danza también rememora las batallas frente a los conquistadores, y el momento en el que finaliza la conquista con la aceptación del Cristianismo y el reconocimiento de Jesús. Con este reconocimiento, los indígenas trasladan cantos, música, incienso, limpieza de sus templos, rosas, flores y fiestas a sus Dioses en un sincretismo respetuoso al nuevo Dios aceptado, creador del universo y a su madre la Virgen Maria.
Cada casa tiene su tradición particular con una u otra variación. Los danzantes dedican su tiempo, y por la fe, ésta los hace más fuertes ante la vida, como lo hacían lo guerreros. Para algunos Concheros el lema es “Unión, Conformidad y Conquista.“ Con esta actitud de firmeza y acción de gracias celebran en especial la devoción a la Virgen de Guadalupe.
El ritual de la danza incluye cantar a los cuatro vientos porque” nada queda del hombre, nada de mi fama aquí en la tierra, al menos flores y cantos, ellos perduran en la casa del dador de la vida,” del documental Concheros Somos de Eduardo Guerra, Produccion Ixtac.
Cuenta la leyenda que, durante la conquista, en 1531 a las espaldas del cerro de San Germán, hubo una batalla y al medio día, el sol se ocultó y salieron las estrellas, y en el cielo apareció una cruz, y Santiago Apóstol en un caballo blanco. Una voz se escuchó diciendo “Él es Dios” y este grito, dió por terminada la conquista para comenzar la conjunción de dos culturas.
Este grito es escuchado durante la danza. Con el mismo se lleva un sincretismo respetuoso que se ha acarreado por generaciones. Los concheros integran las imagines católicas, la adoración al Espíritu Santo y la fe en Jesucristo.
Matachines: Es una de las danzas que rescata la tradición indígena. Es una dramatización de la conquista, no solo la territorial, sino mas bien la conquista religiosa que siguió a la primera. La danza de Matachines representa la lucha y defensa, de la Virgen de Guadalupe, la fe católica y Jesucristo, ante los enemigos, con el uso de las armas ya conocidas por los indígenas.
Bailes Folclóricos: Las fiestas de celebración a la Virgen siempre incluyen tradiciones. Allí donde no hay Danza Azteca o Matachines, los guadalupanos bailan al son de canciones mexicanas del folclore, vistiendo hermosos trajes típicos del país.
Mariachis: Es el grupo musical emblemático de México y es usado para el canto de la Mañanitas en días de cumpleaños. En vivo o grabado, esta canción se repite en cada una de las celebraciones a la Virgen de Guadalupe.
De una forma u otra, de parroquia a parroquia y de país en país , estos son algunos nombres, términos y significado de conceptos, trajes, instrumentos y objetos usados en las danzas, que algunos saben y otros usan con mucho respeto:
Kalpulli: Casa de tradición que organiza la danza y guarda la tradición de sus ancestros.
Danza: Es oración en movimiento
Jerarquia: Cada casa tiene un liderazgo y los Jefes o Capitanes son los líderes de cada casa. Ellos son los ancianos o danzantes con más tiempo en cada casa o por la elección de sus miembros e incluye títulos como “…‘Temachtiani,’ o el Maestro, ‘Tlahtoani.’ portador de palabra” la cabeza o líder; ‘Jefe Tlelyolotl,’ quien pone la disciplina en la ceremonia; Sargento ‘tlakatekatl,’ el portador de la bandera; ‘Pantli,’ la mujer portadoras de sahumerio o incensario ‘sahumadora’, quien toca el tambor ‘Huehuetl,’ quien toca el caracol ‘Atecocolzin,’ quien porta el Agua Atl’ y quien porta la Tierra ‘Tlali’…,” de acuerdo con un documento titulado “Danza Azteca del Kalpulli in Teotl Ilhuikatl” y publicado online.
Danzante: Cada casa o Kalpulli tiene la tradición de recibir nuevos danzantes que luego, a través de los años, se convertirán en sus líderes, por su constancia y sentido de permanencia. Los nuevos danzantes son llamados “macehualzin-macehual” y al culminar varias pequeñas responsabilidades como su asistencia y constancia, recibirán el nombre de “macehualzin.”
Jefe de la danza o “Tlelyolotl:” Determina los movimientos, compas y coreografía, que representara siempre la lucha por la victoria.
Instrumento musical: Arma que “cada guerrero debe conquistar para su desarrollo.”
Ayoyotes: Huesos de semilla, en pies y manos, son el “fuego de la tradición personal” del alma del guerrero.
Estandarte: Es el “arbol de la tradición” y la representación del protector de la danza, en este caso, la Virgen de Guadalupe.
Guitarra de Ayotoste: El ayotoste o tortuga o armadillo representa al espíritu del agua.
Incensiario: Es la ofrenda a la divinidad. En estos caso se usa el mismo incienso usado en la iglesia. Se mantiene encendido durante toda la danza.
Penacho: Es la “devota entrega a la voluntad de lo alto y las plumas son los hilos que lo atan a la vida de cada danzante. Cada pluma por cada victoria ante las pruebas recibidas durante la vida y con las que se hace más fuerte.
Los ayoyotes, ayoyotl, cascabeles aztecas o huesos de fraile: Son utilizados como un instrumento musical que acompaña el baile azteca de México. Son usados en el cuerpo de los danzantes, principalmente en los tobillos y manos. Los ayoyotes son nueces secas de un árbol con el mismo nombre ayoyote o chachayote (chachayotl). Los danzantes aquí o mandan a buscar todos sus vestuarios a Mexico o hacen sus propios trajes, como María Aurora García, quien en Forest prepara además a los jóvenes en la coreografia de la danza.
El caracol o atekokolzin: Su toque invoca al amor y la fe a través de la presencia de los ancestros familiares y locales, a la vez que llama a los guerreros por disciplina.
El tambor, el “huehuetl:” Es el corazón de la eternidad y representa el sonido del corazón de los guerreros para la guerra. El término “atabal” es de origen africano, y seguramente los españoles lo escucharon de los esclavos africanos que tuvieron a su servicio en las islas del archipiélago caribeño. El nombre dado por los pobladores del centro y valle de México a este instrumento es huehuetl, que se relaciona con la palabra huehueh: anciano, viejo.
Arco y flecha: Armas con las que defender a la Virgen, a su hijo Jesucristo y la fe Católica.

Iglesia y Mundo para todos

La Hermana Norma Pimentel, miembro de las Misioneras de Jesús, saluda a la Hermana Teresa Maya, miembro de las Hermanas de la Caridad del Verbo Encarnado y ex presidenta de la Conferencia de Liderazgo de Mujeres Religiosas, después que la Hermana Pimentel recibiera el Premio de Liderazgo Sobresaliente en la Conferencia de Liderazgo de Mujeres Religiosas, en Scottsdale, Arizona, 16 de agosto de 2019. (CNS photo/Gail DeGeorge, Global Sister Report)

El próximo enero, del 9 al 11, el Decanato Cinco celebrará la ya conocida Semana Nacional de la Migración. En esta ocasión la invitada especial es la Hermana Norma Pimentel, Directora Ejecutiva de Caridades Católicas en Rio Grande, Texas. Tendrá encuentros con la comunidad de Vardaman e impartirá dos conferencias en la Iglesia St James, Tupelo. La Hna. Pimentel ostenta la Medalla Laetare de la Universidad de Notre Dame

Youth news

Junie B. Jones – a production

MADISON – St. Joseph school drama students presented “Junie B. Jones is NOT a Crook” on Nov. 14. From left to right, Hannah Dear as Junie, Georgia Conrad as Lucille and Natalia Igwebuike as Grace. (Photos by Tereza Ma)
(Center) Hannah Dear as Junie was unbelievably funny and added real character to the book. Dear is a senior at St. Joseph and is involved in volleyball, SEARCH committee, St. Richard Faith and Life, youth choir and is employed of Lemuria in Jackson.

Fun times at St. Patrick school

MERIDIAN – William Skinner from Fire Department Station One visits with students. Pictured from left to right, Stephen Wilson (back), Macarena Frias (front), Star Cayer, Ellis Farmer, Elizabeth Crudup and teacher, John Harwell, Church Youth Director and religion teacher. (Photos by Celeste Saucier)
Police Department appreciation day! Fifth grader Laney Palmer, hands out the projects and letters of appreciation from other grade levels. Each grade level, Pre-K3 to sixth grade contributed to the project.
Pre-K4 students Avery Hook, Alden and Josiah Christian learn about how Squanto taught the Pilgrims how to plant corn and enjoy a healthy snack.

Turkey feast

GREENVILLE – Why do turkeys eat so little? Because they are always stuffed. Unfortunately, not all of us are turkeys and there are a number of people, both young and old, in the Greenville community who go throughout the day without anything to eat. Members of St. Joseph church youth group reached out to St. Vincent de Paul to see how they could help this holiday season. This young and charismatic group worked diligently to fill 300 food bags with stuffing mix, mushroom gravy mix, vegetables and a host of other tasty treats that were distributed to those in need for Thanksgiving. (Photo by Alyssa Ingram)

JACKSON – St. Richard school hosted a Thanksgiving feast for students and their relatives. Pictured on left is Chamblee Ezelle with her mom Shelley having great time as Father Nick Adam talks to parents in the background. (Photo by Tereza Ma)

Youth SEARCH to deepen relationship with Christ

GALLMAN – Youth gathered for a SEARCH retreat Nov. 22-24 at Camp Wesley Pines. SEARCH is a unique experience designed for juniors and seniors who have a strong desire to deepen their faith and relationship with Christ. Thirty-five “searchers” participated, coming from different parishes around the diocese. Each year the diocesan office of Youth Ministry has two SEARCH retreats, coordinated by Abbey Schuhmann and Ann and Jeff Cook. Thirty people, staffers and volunteers helped the searchers during their new experience of Christ. Among the volunteers were former searchers, there to serve and to help others to reach the fullness of spirituality. (left) Caroline Coffelt and Danielle Murphy, two adult volunteers welcomed searchers. (below) Searchers walk down a hill, eyes closed, during a “Trust Walk” exercise to learn how to rely on each other. (Photos by Berta Mexidor)

Let us be a beacon of justice and peace

Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz

By Bishop Joseph Kopacz
The Word of God in Advent overflows with a vision of justice and peace, hope and reconciliation, solidarity and community in order that time may be a foretaste of eternity. At the outset of this season of expectation and preparation last weekend on the first Sunday in Advent we proclaimed God’s dream for our world from the prophet Isaiah.

The following passage from sacred scripture was heard throughout the Catholic Church soon after Pope Francis spoke with great emotion at the memorials of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the sites of the nuclear nightmares that marked the culmination of devastation at the end of World War II:

“This is what Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. In days to come, the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established as the highest mountain and raised above the hills. All nations shall stream toward it; many peoples shall come and say: ‘Come, let us climb the LORD’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.’ For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and impose terms on many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. O’ house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!”

At the memorials where the gates of hell blew open, Pope Francis stood in solidarity with the long line of Old Testament prophets, along with the popes of the modern and post-modern era, once more to cry out for justice and peace in the human community, Saint Pope John XXIII wrote Pacem in Terris in 1963 less than two decades from the end of World War II addressing, in part, the awful waste of resources in the maddening arms race, the voracious beast of the military-industrial complex of which President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned in the 1950s. On Oct. 4, 1965 Saint Pope Paul VI, the first pope to appear before the United Nations, spoke of the horrors of war and the absolute necessity of world peace. He pleaded, with deep emotion in his voice, “No more war! War never again!”

Two years later he penned Populorum Progressio, the Development of Peoples, that addressed the terrible toll that the development, deployment and use of weaponry took on the human family, draining away much need resources for development, as well as killing the human spirit. This Apostolic teaching called for the full development of each person and the whole person. (n.14)

Saint Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict directly experienced the hell of World War II in Poland and Germany and often spoke out with prophetic zeal for the dignity of the human person, justice and peace. On the 50th Anniversary of Populorum Progressio in 2017 Pope Francis established the Dicastery for Integral Human Development, applying his passion to the vision of Isaiah cited above. Pope Francis loves the concept of integration and sees its urgent need in every dimension of life. Development cannot be restricted to material growth; it means integrating body and soul which finds its source in the Incarnation, the God-Man, Jesus Christ. Integral development gives glory to God and is in relationship with others. From the personal to the global our call is to integrate the peoples of the earth in a sustainable harmony. Solidarity and subsidiarity are at the heart of the social integration of the economy, finance, labor, culture, family life and religion in service of the web of life.

Pope Francis eloquently asserted that “human life is like an orchestra that sounds good if the different instruments are in accord and follow a score shared by all: person means relationship not individualism; it affirms inclusion, not exclusion, uniqueness with an inviolable dignity, rather than exploitation; freedom not coercion. Integral human development is the road of good that the human family is called to travel.”

In late November 2017 in Rome at an international symposium called: “Prospects for a World Free from Nuclear Weapons and for Integral Development” he reminded the participants that the integral disarmament called for by Saint Pope John XXIII in Pacem in Terris is yet to be accomplished. Bleak pessimism must give way to healthy realism Pope Francis stated, and cited the recent declaration of the United Nations in 2015 condemning nuclear weapons as an illegal means of warfare, joining the ranks of outlawed biological and chemical weapons. The catastrophic humanitarian and environmental effects would be unthinkable. The Holy Father pressed the point that the unrelenting arms race, nuclear and so called conventional, “divert resources away from the fight against poverty, the undertaking of educational, ecological and healthcare projects and the development of human rights. … International relations cannot be held captive to military force, mutual intimidation, and the parading of stockpiles of arms. … Progress that is both effective and inclusive can achieve the utopia of a world free of deadly instruments of aggression, contrary to the criticism of those who consider idealistic any process of dismantling arsenals.”

On the flight back from Japan, as for nuclear weapons, the pope reminded reporters after visiting Nagasaki and Hiroshima, “I said again that the use of nuclear weapons is immoral; this must go in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. And not only the use, but the possession.” The United States is the lone superpower at this point in humanity’s evolution and we have the potential to be a beacon of greater justice and peace who can lead the nations of the world on the path of integral disarmament toward integral human development, or in the longing of Isaiah, “come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!”

Seamos un faro de justicia y paz

Obispo Joseph R. Kopacz

Por Obispo Joseph Kopacz
La Palabra de Dios en Adviento se desborda con una visión de justicia y paz, esperanza y reconciliación, solidaridad y comunidad para que este tiempo sea un anticipo de la eternidad. Al comienzo de esta temporada de expectativa y preparación, el primer domingo de Adviento, proclamamos el sueño de Dios para nuestro mundo según el profeta Isaías.
El siguiente pasaje de las Sagradas Escrituras se escuchó en toda la Iglesia Católica poco después que el Papa Francisco habló, con gran emoción, en los memoriales de Nagasaki e Hiroshima, sitios de las pesadillas nucleares que marcaron la culminación de la devastación al final de la Segunda Guerra Mundial:
“Éstas son las profecías que Isaías, hijo de Amós, recibió por revelación acerca de Judá y Jerusalén: En los últimos tiempos quedará afirmado el monte donde se halla el templo del Señor. Será el monte más alto, más alto que cualquier otro monte. Todas las naciones vendrán a él; pueblos numerosos llegarán, diciendo: «Vengan, subamos al monte del Señor, al templo del Dios de Jacob, para que él nos enseñe sus caminos y podamos andar por sus senderos.» Porque de Sión saldrá la enseñanza del Señor, de Jerusalén vendrá su palabra. El Señor juzgará entre las naciones y decidirá los pleitos de pueblos numerosos. Ellos convertirán sus espadas en arados y sus lanzas en hoces. Ningún pueblo volverá a tomar las armas contra otro ni a recibir instrucción para la guerra. ¡Vamos, pueblo de Jacob, caminemos a la luz del Señor!”
En estos monumentos, donde antes se abrieron las puertas del infierno, el Papa Francisco se solidarizó, una vez más, con la larga lista de profetas del Antiguo Testamento y papas de la era moderna y posmoderna, para clamar por justicia y paz con el ser humano.
San Juan XXIII escribió Pacem en Terris en 1963, menos de dos décadas después del final de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, abordando, en parte, el terrible desperdicio de recursos en la enloquecedora carrera armamentista, la bestia voraz del complejo militar-industrial, del cual el presidente Dwight D. Eisenhower advirtió en la década de 1950.
El 4 de octubre de 1965 el Papa Pablo VI, primer papa en comparecer ante las Naciones Unidas, habló de los horrores de la guerra y de la absoluta necesidad de la paz mundial. Él suplicó, con profunda emoción en su voz, “¡No más guerra! ¡Guerra, Nunca jamás!!
Dos años más tarde, escribió Populorum Progressio, el Desarrollo de los Pueblos, en el que abordó el terrible costo que el desarrollo, el despliegue y el uso de armas causaron en la familia humana, drenando los recursos necesarios para el desarrollo y matando el espíritu humano. Esta enseñanza apostólica exigía el pleno desarrollo de cada persona y de toda la persona. (n. 14)
El Papa Juan Pablo II y el Papa Benedicto vivieron directamente el infierno de la Segunda Guerra Mundial en Polonia y Alemania y a menudo hablaron con celo profético por la dignidad de la persona humana, la justicia y la paz. En el 50 aniversario de Populorum Progressio en 2017, el Papa Francisco estableció el Dicasterio para el Desarrollo Humano Integral, aplicando su pasión a la visión de Isaías, citada anteriormente. El Papa Francisco ama el concepto de integración y ve su necesidad urgente en todas las dimensiones de la vida. El desarrollo no puede restringirse al crecimiento material; significa integrar cuerpo y alma que encuentra su fuente en la Encarnación, el Dios-Hombre, Jesucristo. El desarrollo integral le da gloria a Dios y está en una relación con los demás. Desde lo personal a lo global, nuestro llamado es integrar a los pueblos de la tierra en armonía sostenible. La solidaridad y la subsidiariedad están en el corazón de la integración social de la economía, las finanzas, el trabajo, la cultura, la vida familiar y la religión al servicio de la red de la vida.
El Papa Francisco afirmó elocuentemente que “la vida humana es como una orquesta que suena bien si los diferentes instrumentos están acordes y siguen un puntaje compartido por todos: persona significa relación, no individualismo; afirma la inclusión, no la exclusión, la unicidad con una dignidad inviolable, en lugar de la explotación; libertad no coerción. El desarrollo humano integral es el camino del bien que la familia humana está llamada a recorrer.”
Más tarde, en noviembre de 2017, en Roma, en un simposio internacional llamado: “Perspectivas para un mundo libre de armas nucleares y para el desarrollo integral,” el Papa recordó a los participantes que el desarme integral solicitado por el Papa Juan XXIII en Pacem en Terris aún no se ha logrado. El pesimismo sombrío debe dar paso a un realismo saludable. El Papa Francisco declaró y citó la reciente declaración de las Naciones Unidas en 2015 que condena las armas nucleares como un medio ilegal de guerra, uniéndose a las filas de las armas biológicas y químicas prohibidas. Los catastróficos efectos humanitarios y ambientales serían impensables. El Santo Padre insistió en que la implacable carrera armamentista, nuclear y llamada convencional, “desvía recursos de la lucha contra la pobreza, la realización de proyectos educativos, ecológicos y de salud y el desarrollo de los derechos humanos. … No se pueden mantener las relaciones internacionales cautivas de la fuerza militar, la intimidación mutua y el desfile de arsenales. … El progreso que es efectivo e inclusivo puede lograr la utopía de un mundo libre de instrumentos mortales y de agresión, contrario a las críticas de aquellos que consideran idealista cualquier proceso de desmantelamiento.”
En el vuelo de regreso desde Japón, después de visitar Nagasaki e Hiroshima y al hablar sobre el uso de las armas nucleares, el Papa recordó a los periodistas “…Dije nuevamente que el uso de armas nucleares es inmoral; Esto debe ir al Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica. Y no solo el uso, sino también la posesión.”
Estados Unidos es la única superpotencia en este momento de la evolución de la humanidad y tenemos el potencial de ser un faro de mayor justicia y paz que puede guiar a las naciones del mundo en el camino del desarme integral. hacia el desarrollo humano integral, con el anhelo de Isaías, “¡Vamos, pueblo de Jacob, caminemos a la luz del Señor!”

Pope asks Catholics to set up, be enchanted by a Nativity scene

By Carol Glatz
ROME (CNS) – A Nativity scene is a simple reminder of something astonishing: God became human to reveal the greatness of his love “by smiling and opening his arms to all,” Pope Francis said in a letter on the meaning and importance of setting up Christmas cribs.
“Wherever it is, and whatever form it takes, the Christmas creche speaks to us of the love of God, the God who became a child in order to make us know how close he is to every man, woman and child, regardless of their condition,” the pope wrote in his apostolic letter, “Admirabile Signum” (“Enchanting Image”).
Pope Francis signed the short letter Dec. 1, the first Sunday of Advent, during an afternoon visit to Greccio, Italy, where St. Francis of Assisi set up the first Nativity scene in 1223.
When St. Francis had a cave prepared with a hay-filled manger, an ox and a donkey, he “carried out a great work of evangelization,” Pope Francis said, and Catholics must continue that work today.
“With this letter,” he wrote, “I wish to encourage the beautiful family tradition of preparing the Nativity scene in the days before Christmas, but also the custom of setting it up in the workplace, in schools, hospitals, prisons and town squares.”
At the heart of even the simplest Nativity scene, he said, there is a reminder of “God’s tender love.”
Then, he said, there is the fact that this baby is “the source and sustenance of all life. In Jesus, the Father has given us a brother who comes to seek us out whenever we are confused or lost, a loyal friend ever at our side. He gave us his son who forgives us and frees us from our sins.”

Pope Francis prays during a visit to the Nativity scene of Greccio, Italy, Dec. 1, 2019. The first Nativity scene was assembled in Greccio by St. Francis of Assisi in 1223. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)


“To our astonishment, we see God acting exactly as we do: He sleeps, takes milk from his mother, cries and plays like every other child! As always, God baffles us. He is unpredictable, constantly doing what we least expect,” Pope Francis wrote. “The Nativity scene shows God as he came into our world, but it also makes us reflect on how our life is part of God’s own life.”
The simple shepherds, who were the first to go to the stable to see the newborn Jesus, are reminders that “the humble and the poor” are the first to welcome the good news, the pope said. “In a particular way, from the time of its Franciscan origins, the Nativity scene has invited us to ‘feel’ and ‘touch’ the poverty that God’s son took upon himself in the incarnation.”
That, in turn, calls Jesus’ disciples “to follow him along the path of humility, poverty and self-denial that leads from the manger of Bethlehem to the cross,” the pope wrote. “It asks us to meet him and serve him by showing mercy to those of our brothers and sisters in greatest need.”
Mary is a model of discipleship, faithfully accepting God’s will for her life and sharing him with others, inviting them to obey him. Joseph, too, accepts the role God assigned him, protecting the baby Jesus, teaching him and raising him.
And, of course, the pope wrote, “when, at Christmas, we place the statue of the Infant Jesus in the manger, the Nativity scene suddenly comes alive. God appears as a child, for us to take into our arms.”
The whole scene, he said, reminds adult Catholics of their childhood and of learning the faith from their parents and grandparents. Each year, it should be a reminder that the faith needs to be passed on to one’s children and grandchildren.

Called by name

Father Nick Adam

There is no quick fix to any big issue. Good solutions require good planning and execution. This means we must put a good plan in place for priestly formation in this diocese and then execute the plan. I may have mentioned in this space that this past summer, Director of Seminarians Father Aaron Williams and I attended the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors. It was pretty overwhelming at first. We went to conference after conference where information was flying faster than a weekday homily. I was inspired and somewhat intimidated by what I learned. There are so many great ideas floating around out there, but which of the practices could be implemented in our diocese?

I left that conference with a goal. I want to dig a trench before trying to install a pipeline. A rise in priestly vocations does not happen overnight. But we have to start with the fundamentals. We have to build a strong foundation of accompaniment, collaboration and formation. I want to explore these three preparatory parts of the “pipeline” as 2020 nears.

Accompaniment is listed first because for a trench to form, we have to dig. We have to move raw material, change the lay of the land and make space for something greater. The raw material that I have the responsibility and joy to work with are young men who are seeking to follow God’s will and are open to the possibility that God may be calling them to serve as a priest. Young men first of all need priests and parish leaders to accompany them in their journey to the seminary. Pastors, parochial vicars and retirees alike must be willing to encourage, answer questions and show our priesthood to them. One of the ways to do this is by offering young men a place in the liturgy. I have trained several MCs who serve in liturgies at St. Richard. They may have never been an altar server, but MCs are seen as role models for the younger kids and they help to keep the liturgy running smoothly for the priest celebrant. Of course, not every parish in our diocese has a resident priest-pastor, and I encourage LEMs and other parish leaders to identify young men who seem to want to go deeper in their faith and walk with them. Ask them if they’ve ever considered being a priest, so often that’s all it takes to allow God to gain a foothold in a young man’s heart. And remember, seminary does not equal priesthood! The seminary is simply the place to best discern whether one is called to be a priest and entry into seminary does not mean that the candidate is now obligated to advance to ordination.

Accompaniment, however, stretches beyond the parish and into the family of a young man. Are parents willing to open a discussion with a child about the possibility of priesthood? Do they regularly make it clear that they would love to have a priest in the family? Families are the seedbed of vocations. If parents actively encourage their sons to consider priesthood, vocations can flourish. If, however, priesthood is never brought up, or indeed, if faith is rarely made manifest outside of Church on Sunday, then our efforts at accompaniment could fall short. Again, I can only share my experience. My time in the seminary was the best six years of my life. I learned more about myself and the world then I could have ever imagined. I am willing to accompany young men on the road to priesthood and I pray that priests, parish leaders and parents in our diocese are just as willing. There are no quick fixes, but accompaniment is the first step to building a pipeline that will provide priests in Mississippi for the next generation.

Vocations Events

Friday, Jan. 31-Feb. 2, 2020 – Annual Notre Dame Pre-Discernment trip. Open to men of any age who are open to a call to priesthood, we will spend three days on the campus of Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans.

Contact the Office of Vocations if interested in attending any of these events.
vocations@jacksondiocese.org
www.jacksonpriests.com