Imagining grace

Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI

IN EXILE
By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
Imagine this: A man, entirely careless of all moral and spiritual affairs, lives his life in utter selfishness, pleasure his only pursuit. He lives the high life, never prays, never goes to church, has numerous sexual affairs and has no concern for anyone but himself. After a long life of this, he’s diagnosed with a terminal illness and, on his deathbed, tearfully repents, makes a sincere confession, receives the Eucharist and dies inside the blessing of the church and his friends.

Now, if our reaction is, “Well, the lucky fellow! He got to live a life of selfish pleasure and still gets to go to heaven!” then (according to Piet Fransen, a renowned theologian on Grace) we haven’t yet, at all, understood the workings of grace. To the degree that we still envy the amoral and wish to exclude them from God’s grace, even as we count ourselves in, we are the “older brother” of the prodigal son, standing outside the Father’s house, heaven, in envy and bitterness.

I teach in a seminary that prepares seminarians for ordination. Recently our professor of Sacramental Theology shared that he’s been teaching a course on the Sacrament of Reconciliation for more than forty years and only in the last few years have the seminarians asked: “When do we have to refuse giving someone absolution in confession?”

What’s betrayed in this concern? The seminarians asking the question are, no doubt, sincere; they’re not trying to be rigid or hard. Their anxiety is rather about grace and mercy. They are sincerely anxious about perhaps dispensing God’s mercy too liberally, too cheaply, too indiscriminately, in essence, too unfairly. Their fear is not so much that God’s mercy is limited and that there’s only so much grace to go around. Not that. Their concern is more that by giving out grace so liberally they are being unfair to those who are practicing faithfully and bearing the heat of the day. Their fear is about fairness, justice and merit.

What’s at stake here? That grace is not something we merit. After the rich young man in the Gospels turns down Jesus’ invitation to leave everything and follow him, Peter, who watched this encounter and who, unlike the rich young man, has not turned down Jesus’ invitation and has given up everything to follow him, asks Jesus what those who do give up everything are going to get in return. In response, Jesus tells him the parable of the generous land owner and the vineyard workers who all arrive at different times, wherein some work for many hours and some for virtually no time at all, and yet they all receive the same reward, leaving those who worked the full day and bore the heat of the sun bitter with sense of unfairness. But, the vineyard owner (God) points out that there is no unfairness here since everyone has in fact received an over-generous return.

What’s the deep lesson? Whenever we are protesting that it “isn’t fair” that those who are not as faithful as we but are still receiving the full mercy and grace of God we are some distance from understanding grace and living fully inside it.

My dental hygienist knows I’m a Catholic priest and likes to ask me questions about religion and church. One day she shared this story: Her mother and father had both, as far as she knew, never attended church. They had been benign enough about religion, but not interested themselves. She, their daughter, had begun practicing as a Methodist, mainly through the influence of friends. Then her mother died and as they talked about plans for a funeral, her father revealed that her mother had been baptized as a Roman Catholic, though she had not practiced since her middle-school years. He suggested they try to arrange a Roman Catholic funeral for her. Given all those years of absence, it was with some trepidation that they approached a priest at a nearby parish to ask whether they might have a Roman Catholic funeral for her. To their surprise, the priest’s response was non-hesitant, warm and welcoming: “Of course, we can do this! It will be an honor! And I’ll arrange for a choir and a reception in the parish hall afterwards.”

No price was exacted for her mother’s life-long absence from the church. She was buried with the full rites of the Church … and her father, well, he was so touched by it all, the generosity of the church and the beauty of the liturgy, that he has since decided to become a Roman Catholic.

One wonders what the effect would have been had the priest refused that funeral, asking how they could justify a church funeral when, for all these years, they weren’t interested in the church. One wonders too how many people find this story comforting rather than discomforting, given a strong ecclesial ethos today wherein many of us nurse the fear that we are handing out grace and mercy too cheaply.

But grace and mercy are never given out cheaply since love is never merited.

(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser, theologian, teacher and award-winning author, is President of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, TX. He can be contacted through his website www.ronrolheiser.com. Now on Facebook www.facebook.com/ronrolheiser)

WWJD? He would love first

KNEADING FAITH
By Fran Lavelle
I was in Vicksburg several weeks ago and was asked if I knew what the acronym HWLF stood for. I did not. I was told that it is the response to the question, “WWJD? (What would Jesus do?)” The answer, “He would love first.” In the weeks since that brief graced moment, I have had several reasons to remind myself HWLF.

On Catechetical Sunday the Gospel was the parable of the prodigal son. It is a reading that has the power to speak to us in a myriad of ways depending on where we are in our own spiritual journey. The parable lesson is one I have visited and revisited on several occasions. I don’t know if you are ever at Mass and something is said that strikes you to the core of your being, but that is exactly what happened to me that Sunday. Father Cosgrove was talking about the two sons and he simply said, “The father loved them both. You know what I mean? The father loved both of his sons.” Yes, He Would Love First. Loving first means we welcome home those who have strayed and loving those who can no longer see the belovedness of the other.

All of this got me thinking about two unrelated deaths of men who were likewise loved by God, Father Al Camp and a high school friend of mine, Mickey. Father Al and I had several things in common; of great importance was our Ohio roots. When ever Father Al saw me he would say, “Hey, hey there Buckeye.” To be clear, Buckeyes are the nut bearing state tree of Ohio and Ohioans are known as Buckeyes. While I hold no hostility to the large state school in Columbus, Ohio I am not that kind of a Buckeye. I could always count on a flash of Father Al’s cheeky smile and his easy-going disposition, but I knew that below the smiles and salutations was a deeply faith filled man and true servant of God’s people. Hearing stories about Father Al at his memorial Mass underscored for me the importance of living an intentional life of authentic service. I was also reminded not to sweat the little stuff and to laugh. Father Al had a wicked dry sense of humor and loved to laugh.

Later the next week I found out that a guy I went to high school with had died a few weeks shy of his 54th birthday from an overdose. Mickey was a brilliant man with Kennedy-esque good looks. He was the only child of a well-known, well to do family in town. Mickey went to law school and spent most of his career as a prosecuting attorney. About a year ago, Mickey was indicted for federal tax fraud. He spent the past year in federal prison. On July 1, Mickey got out of prison and was sent to a halfway house. A few days after returning home from his year-long incarceration, Mickey overdosed and died. His long battle with addiction ended Mickey’s life just as his friends were hoping he would have a new beginning. I read the eulogy that one of his closest friends gave at Mickey’s funeral. It was filled with the sadness one expects when a life so full of promise tragically ends.

I found myself reflecting on these two lives, both in how they lived and how they were memorialized. The stark difference in their lives seems so apparent, one an 87-year young servant of God’s people and the other a gifted 53-year-old who struggled with addiction. But they also shared many things in common. Both were smart and handsome. Both were raised Catholic. As with all of us, both men lived with the consequences of their choices. I thought about God’s love for Father Al and Mickey. I felt a profound gratitude in knowing that they were both beloved sons of God. They were loved first.

That understanding is exactly what our broken world is in most need of. To know we are loved. Loved by God. Every single one of us. That is the central message of all catechetical formation. It is easy to fear that our catechetical programs, RCIA sessions, adult faith formation classes are watered down by relativism. It is easy to get too far into our heads and look at rubrics and rules and make black and white determinations about who is and who isn’t worthy of this or that. We want to “give them” the truth, not mince words, tell it like it is, but when we approach formation like an academic endeavor, we can turn out people who know the faith but have not experienced it.

We all have the responsibility to share the love of God and the gift of faith. We cannot approach love the same way we approach learning, although we do learn by loving. Now more than ever it is critical that we inspire others to see the belovedness of one another.

In those moments when we ask ourselves, “What would Jesus do?” may we respond, “He would love first.” And do likewise.

(Fran Lavelle is the Director of Faith Formation for the Diocese of Jackson.)

Holy garments for glory and for beauty

Father Aaron Williams

SPIRIT AND TRUTH
By Father Aaron Williams
People are always complimenting my vestments after Mass. Kids at the school recognize the certain vestments that I only pull out on big feasts. Parishioners like to tell me which vestment is their “favorite.” When I was preparing for ordination, I gave some time to consider what sort of vestments I was going to order or who would make them. I noticed a lot of my classmates buying matching vestments in each color from various catalogue producers—the church equivalent of off-the-rack clothing companies. I just wasn’t too excited about the idea of spending a large amount of money on standard vestments which everyone else had and honestly weren’t too impressive. So, I began to consider the directives of the Church.
The General Instruction of the Roman Missal says, “sacred vestments should contribute to the beauty of the sacred action itself” (335). This is further developed in a later paragraph reading, “It is fitting that the beauty and nobility of each vestment derive not from abundance of overly lavish ornamentation, but rather from the material that is used and from the design. Ornamentation on vestments should, moreover, consist of figures, that is, of images or symbols, that evoke sacred use, avoiding thereby anything unbecoming” (344).
So, from this we learn that the intention of the Church is that the vestments used at Mass are themselves beautiful—but that their beauty is derived not from being elaborate or lavish but their material and design. This is further explained by the fathers of the Second Vatican Council: “[Bishops], by the encouragement and favor they show to art which is truly sacred, should strive after noble beauty rather than mere sumptuous display. This principle is to apply also in the matter of sacred vestments and ornaments.”
Thus we see the Church desires a glance between sumptuous/gaudy vestments, but also vestments that are noble and beautiful. Now, God is beauty itself. St. Augustine praises this in his Confessions. “Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient ever new.” If vestments are beautiful, it is because they reveal to us the beauty of God. And, here we find the purpose of church vesture at all. We use vestments in the liturgy not to honor the minister, but to honor God—or, more explicitly, to reveal God’s beauty to humanity.
And, this was the approach that God himself used in defining the vesture and ornamentation of the liturgy in the old covenant. In commanding Moses to make vestments for Aaron, God declares, “And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty” (Ex 28:2). Later in the same chapter, God described each vestment in detail—which threads will be used, which colors, how they are ornamented (cf. Ex 28:31-38).
When you consider the prescribed design of these vestments in light of the whole of the Old Testament, it’s easy to see why God demanded these figures. The colors, fabrics, styles and ornaments are all evocative of the Garden of Eden. The same was true of the decoration on the walls of the temple itself, which included designs of trees and flowers. The whole purpose of these ornaments was not “art for the sake of art,” but so that the worshiper would be drawn in to the act of worship by the beauty surrounding him, and even more so, to be taken back to the Garden—to the paradise of God.
In a similar way, the Church exhorts us to build beautiful churches, have beautiful music and wear beautiful vestments not simply because it makes the Mass more dignified, but because this beauty is meant to invoke in our minds a longing for the beauty of heaven.
Regrettably, in recent years it has not been uncommon to find sacristies which once housed beautiful and historic vestments now filled with simple and mass-produced polyester counterparts—often equally or even more expensive than vestments purchased from sellers who today are using truly noble fabrics and designs such as silks or damask fabrics with patterns of flowers, angels, crosses and crowns.
Often these catalogue vestments are bought because of a myth that they must be cheaper than the custom option. The reality is that most of the mass-produce sellers use very inexpensive fabrics but overcharge. My most expensive vestment, which was custom designed by a one-man company in Poland, was less expensive than the average vestment sold by the largest vestment seller in America—a Belgian-based company that exclusively uses factory-made artificial fabrics, many of which are simply plain polyester with printed designs, if any.
I remember one of my professors at the Liturgical Institute was speaking about the need for beauty in the liturgy today. He proposed the question of whether, in a society with such poverty, we should invest in beautiful churches or vestments. He said, “The poor today live under concrete bridges, and in parks, and see ugliness all around them both in their surroundings and in how they are treated. But, the riches of the Church are their riches. There’s a reason you find the poor at churches and not a government buildings. Everything at the church is theirs and they deserve something beautiful.”
Nobility is not the enemy of beauty. We can have beauty without becoming ornate and extravagant. “And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty” (Ex 28:2).

(Father Aaron Williams is the Director of Seminarians and Parochial vicar at Greenville St. Joseph Parish)

Annual golf tournament benefits programs and schools in diocese

By Joanna Puddister King

MADISON – For 37 years golfers from around the diocese have come to compete in the annual Bishop’s Cup golf tournament hosted by The Catholic Foundation. This year, the tournament was held on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at Lake Caroline and was chaired by Steve Carmody, who has chaired the event for the past 27 years.

MADISON – Golfers are ready to roll on Sept. 10 at the Bishop’s Cup at Lake Caroline. (Photo by Rebecca Harris).

Along with the tournament, a social, dinner and auction was held at the Mermaid Café for participants and Foundation supporters. Proceeds from the events assist the Foundation in funding grant projects around the diocese for parishes, schools and Catholic Charities. Some past projects supported have included vacation bible school supplies, parish building renovations, program supplies at the Catholic Charities Domestic Violence Shelter and Born Free programs, as well as STEM labs and playground equipment for schools.

“The tournament continues to grow each year, and we are always excited to see our golfers return. We would like to thank all of those that help to sponsor holes to make the tournament a success,” said Catholic Foundation executive director, Rebecca Harris.

This year Lester Diamond, Bishop Joseph Kopacz, Paul Sego and David Sinclair sponsored by St. Dominic Health Care System came in first place with a score of 53. Tico Hoffman’s team came in second place with a score of 54 and the third-place winner was the Bank Plus team with a score of 55.

Ladies and gentlemen are encouraged to save the date for the next Bishop’s cup, set for Sept. 8, 2020.

Called by Name

Father Nick Adam

How old should one be to enter the seminary or to start formation in a religious house of discernment? This question is as old as the church. I have heard many different opinions and my own opinion has been molded and refined as the years have gone on. A popular viewpoint that I have heard is that we need men and women who have “real world” experience prior to entering into religious discernment. This way they know the “basics” of living as an adult and they might avoid some pitfalls in religious life. They also have a chance to experience a “normal life” and perhaps this will make them more ready to embrace a call from the Lord because they know what else is out there. I had worked for four and a half years and lived on my own prior to joining the seminary. I had to learn to scrape together enough money week to week to pay for essentials, I learned what things cost and I matured a great deal during those years on my own.

But as I progressed through the seminary, I was formed to be a priest alongside men with a variety of personal and professional backgrounds. Some had been highly successful business leaders; some were fresh out of high school and had never had a paying job. Some were grandfathers who had been widowed, others had never dated. What I came to understand during my six years of seminary was that formation works. No matter our background, no matter our life experience, it was our dedication and faithfulness to what the Church demanded of us in priestly formation that dictated our success or our failure. Every man and woman is different, some young men know they have a call to the priesthood from an early age, it is all they have ever wanted to do. Should we really say: “no, do this other thing first or you will not be happy?” I did not experience that call early on, the Lord apparently saw fit to put a desire for priesthood on my heart at a later date, but that did not change the fact that it would be my dedication to formation and to the Lord that would dictate my success or failure.

Earlier this month I shared my vocation story with students at Ole Miss and I spoke with the wonderful youth group at St. John Oxford as well. I hope that any young person, at any age, who manifests a desire to explore religious life is not brushed aside until they are “old enough” to make that decision. Every disciple is different, God calls us all at different times and that is the answer to the question, how old should one be to enter the seminary or religious formation? It depends on the person and that is how God intended it. –Father Nick Adam

Vocations Events

Friday, Oct. 4 – Sunday Oct. 6 – Jesu Caritas Retreat with Dominican Sisters of Nashville, Tennessee.

Friday, Nov. 22 – Bonfire Football Game – St. Joseph Seminary, Covington, Louisiana.

Contact the Office of Vocations if interested – vocations@jacksondiocese.org

Vocations

OXFORD – Members of the Catholic Campus Ministry at Ole Miss share their thoughts at “Good Cheer” after a talk by Vocation Director Father Nick Adam on Wednesday, Sept. 18. (Photo by Father Nick Adam)
Spanish Bishop Rafael Cob, apostolic vicar of Puyo, Ecuador, foreground in blue vest, speaks with journalists in Quito Sept. 14, 2019. Bishop Cob said the ordination of married elders — “viri probati” or “men of proven virtue” — would be a possible solution to the lack of priests and missionaries in the Amazon region. (CNS photo/Junno Arocho Esteves)

Couple stays connected at St. Catherine’s Village

By Debbie Szwast
MADISON – What started as a meeting in elementary school has become a lifelong love story for Betty and John King, now residents at St. Catherine’s Village senior living community.
“The couple act like newlyweds, even though they have been married for 66 years,” said Felichia Fields, assistant executive director at St. Catherine’s Village. John, who is 90 years old and a Korean War veteran, lives in skilled nursing in Siena Center while Betty, 88, has a studio independent living apartment on campus.
“Being able to stay happy and connected while living in separate areas of St. Catherine’s Village is a testament to their bond and the strength of their marriage,” said Fields.
John and Betty first met in Clinton and after travelling across the country and Europe and raising two daughters, retired there. But as John entered his 80s, his health began to falter and his mobility became restricted due to diabetes. After caring for her husband at home for seven years, Betty—a former teacher—realized it was time to get caregiver support. A close friend told the couple to check out St. Catherine’s Village.
“We had seen the community being built but were unaware of the services available,” said Betty. Following a stint in physical therapy for John, the couple decided to visit the property.

MADISON – John and Betty King enjoy life at St. Catherine’s Village. (Photo courtesy of Debbie Szwast)

“When we first spoke with the staff, they were all very kind and truly made us feel wanted here,” she continued. “Luckily, one private skilled nursing room was available so we took it. And we are so glad we did! St. Catherine’s Village is about the most precious place in the world.”
John moved into Siena Center in Oct. 2017. For a year, Betty visited John at St. Catherine’s Village every day. John was concerned about Betty driving 20 miles each way so her daughters urged her to consider moving to the senior living community as well. It was a difficult choice after owning a home for more than 60 years.
“I put everything on paper…one column with what I liked about St. Catherine’s Village and one column with the drawbacks. When I looked at the paper, everything was in the ‘like’ column,” she recalled. “So I prayed on it and asked God to show me a sign to make the right decision.”
Soon after, Betty’s son-in-law called to tell her he had a friend who was looking to purchase a home for investment purposes. The morning after showing Betty’s home, the potential investor made an offer and within 30 days the Kings’ family home was sold and closed.
“I knew this was God’s answer,” she said.
In Oct. 2018, Betty moved to St. Catherine’s Village and immediately began making friends. Around the corner from her apartment was a college mate and around the other corner was a couple from Clinton she had known. On her first night, she also met the community’s music director.
“I found my niche—playing the piano and loving it,” said Betty. “I grew up playing in church then in clubs and at dances. Now I play hymns for Sunday church.”
At first, Betty was concerned about downsizing to a studio apartment.
“I thought, I can’t live in a space that small,” she recalled. “But the staff assured me that when a larger apartment opened up I could move into it. Needless to say, the studio ended up being absolutely perfect for me.”
She appreciates that her residence has a balcony overlooking the lake because a natural setting is very important to both Betty and John, who worked for the Mississippi State Park Service helping to restore the Gulf Coast after hurricane Camille and building 11 new state parks.
Overall, St. Catherine’s Village boasts 160 acres of beautiful outdoor space with lakes and wooded grounds. The Kings can be found walking around the lush campus and enjoying the well-manicured property during “date time” nearly every day. Betty often accompanies John to the grill, as well.
“We both adore the food here,” John said. Several choices are offered for every meal, all chef prepared in one kitchen. So whether in independent living or skilled nursing in Siena Center, menus are the same.
While Betty likes going out to eat at night, she also plays bridge with friends and participates in many of the activities and events at St. Catherine’s Village. There is so much to do on campus that even though the couple’s daughters and their families live nearby in Clinton and Madison and can frequently visit, “sometimes I’m already booked,” Betty teased.
John prefers quiet hour on the lower level. More importantly, he wants to catch a big fish on what he calls “Lake Siena,” the large lake outside the Siena Center skilled nursing building.
“I keep trying to put together a football team but no one wants to be on my team,” John joked. A former college football coach, he met a staff member at St. Catherine’s Village who had been a quarterback on one of his teams.
“We feel so special and blessed to be in such a good place,” said Betty. “With John’s diabetic condition, the nurses test his blood sugar several times a day and keep him on track. You don’t find that anywhere else. And they are always in such good spirits and take beautiful care of him. So we can stay relaxed and not worry about anything.”
“Everything at St. Catherine’s Village is at the highest level—service, amenities, property, activities, etc.,” said Betty. “Anyone who moves here will have the best quality of life—whether for the next year or many years.”
As Madison’s preeminent all-inclusive Life Plan Community, St. Catherine’s Village provides the right care at the right time for those in their retirement years. The private, gated community boasts a caring staff, on-site resident-centered care, and a mission-focused environment. Adults age 62 and older are welcome and encouraged to enjoy fullness of life, health and faith.
St. Catherine’s Village offers independent living in apartments and garden homes, assisted living in Marian Hall, memory care in Campbell Cove, skilled nursing in Siena Center and the new Tuscany building, and skilled nursing dedicated to memory care in Hughes Center.
The all-inclusive Life Plan Community was the first in the state to earn accreditation by CARF-CCAC. This “commitment to excellence” seal signifies that the campus exceeds the standards established by the only international accrediting body for CCRCs.
To learn more about life at St. Catherine’s Village, log onto www.StCatherinesVillage.com or call (601) 856-0123 to schedule a tour.

Catholic Christian Family Movement launches new year of initiatives

By Berta Mexidor
RICHLAND – Dedicated Catholics gathered this month to take part in an ongoing movement here in the diocese aimed at promoting Christianity in marriages, families and communities and bringing people closer to God.
Juan and Maribel Melo, presidents of Catholic Christian Family Movement (Movimiento Familiar Cristiano Catolico – MFCC), led the assembly Sept. 6 at the Richland Community Center. The event marking the MFCC program’s kickoff of activities for the year attracted people from many areas and more than 35 couples, many of them with children were in attendance.
Bishop Joseph Kopacz attended the opening assembly and addressed those attending giving everyone a message of hope. He talked about the ongoing immigration crisis in Mississippi that several families of the diocese have faced and continue to experience, including families involved in the MFCC faith movement.

RICHLAND – The Liturgy coordinators of the MFCC, Herlinda and Jaime Martínez made a detailed presentation, on Friday, Sept. 6, about the five pillars of the movement. (Photos by Berta Mexidor)

Bishop Kopacz said to them “… the jail, the separation is very difficult, there is much suffering in this life, but there is much hope also, in the communities of faith and in the people, who are coming to help.”
MFCC is a national lay movement recommended by the U.S. Catholic Bishops. As part of movement initiatives, programs and events led by trained coordinators and leaders are aimed at saving and strengthening marriages and helping children, individuals and families develop faith and a strong sense of Christian community.
The Richland event included talks, activities and breakout sessions when small groups gathered in discussions. Spiritual advisors and leaders were on hand for counseling and to answer any questions. Many people expressed their joy about the start of a new year of activities.
At one-point, new members of the movement program were introduced and welcomed during the assembly. Among the participants were presente Francisco and Isabel Mazy, delegates, and Miguel and Lizet Cruz, both vice presidents. Sister Maria Josefa García Álvarez, a member of the Missionary Guadalupanas of the Holy Spirit congregation, is one of the spiritual advisors along with Brother Theodore Dausch, CFC and father Odel Medina, pastor of St Anne Carthage.
This year, Father Juan Chavajay, pastor of St. Therese in Jackson, also joins the movement serving as an advisory team member. Charlene Bearden, Diocese of Jackson coordinator of the Office of Family Ministry, was also on hand showing her support.

RICHLAND – Couples began the assembly, on Friday, Sept. 6, by thanking each other, reaffirming the love they profess and the commitment on keeping their marriage in faith.

In preparation of the September kickoff event, spiritual counselors and coordinators met Aug. 3 at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle in Jackson. During the meeting, movement members received training and discussions were presented about expansion and growth of the outreach with five elements at the center: prayer and liturgical life; study; apostolic action; hospitality and economic contribution.
For more information on MFCC, contact Juan and Maribel Melo at 601-826-3305 or 601-209-3232. The national website is www.mfccusa.net.

Catholic organizations in Florida marshaling aid for Dorian victims

By Catholic News Service
MIAMI – In the wake of Hurricane Dorian’s brutal blasting of the Bahamas, Catholic organizations in Florida continued to raise funds to aid victims there.
The best aid from individual Catholics is monetary donations. Money can be used to buy supplies in bulk and get them delivered promptly and to reboot the local economy, enabling communities to start getting back on their feet. Money also ensures the items sent are actually the items needed – not just immediately after the disaster but months later, when recovery is ongoing.
“It’s the agencies that are on the ground providing the help, they really know what is needed. So it’s best to give them the resources so they can purchase locally what is needed. It helps to get businesses back up and running locally,” Peter Routsis-Arroyo, director of the Archdiocese of Miami’s Catholic Charities, told the Florida Catholic, Miami’s archdiocesan newspaper.
Arroyo noted the “tremendous amount of manpower” and agency funds required to organize, pack and ship donated items. “If we had just turned that money over to them, there’s none of those costs involved in that,” he said.
Not to mention that some items may only be needed the first few days.
“Maybe they need MREs (meals ready to eat) for the first two days, but that’s it,” he said. Other needs will arise as reconstruction begins, Arroyo added.
The Catholic Church has a distinct advantage, though, when disaster strikes anywhere: an interconnected network of churches and agencies with deep roots and deep knowledge of the affected communities.
The Miami Archdiocese has many links to the Archdiocese of Nassau. Priests from Miami’s Metropolitan Tribunal helped Nassau set up its tribunal a decade ago. For years, representatives from the Bahamas Women’s Auxiliary have joined members of the Miami Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women at their annual convention – sometimes bringing Nassau Archbishop Patrick C. Pinder with them.
“We’ve been in constant contact with Archbishop Pinder,” Routsis-Arroyo said, adding that what he’s dealing with “is overwhelming.”
“He sends us a list of what he needs and it’s easier for us to collect monies, purchase in bulk, not have to pay taxes or anything. And then we have friends of the agency who will ship it for free to him. And then he knows how to get it to whoever he knows on his end,” Routsis-Arroyo said.
Those “friends” include shipping companies and wealthy individuals who offer to cover the costs or deliver the goods free of charge.
Normally, relief work in a foreign country is done by the U.S. bishops’ overseas agency, Catholic Relief Services. But Routsis-Arroyo explained that CRS doesn’t have any offices in the Bahamas “so they work with the archbishop and the local Caritas,” which is part of the international network of agencies under the umbrella of Caritas Internationalis
When Dorian slammed into the Bahamas, Knights of Columbus of Florida went into action.
The first order of business: texting with a fellow Knight of Columbus by the name of Patrick Pinder.
“We are in touch with Archbishop Pinder of Nassau by text,” said Ronald Winn, a resident of Pensacola and state disaster response chairman for the Knights of Columbus.

A man hangs his clothing amid the rubble of destroyed homes Sept. 6, 2019, after Hurricane Dorian hit the Abaco Islands in Marsh Harbour, Bahamas. In the wake of Hurricane Dorian’s brutal blasting of the Bahamas, Catholic organizations in Florida continued to raise funds to aid victims there. (CNS photo/Marco Bello, Reuters)

The Knights’ Florida Council has had a long relationship with the Knights in the Bahamas, which is considered part of the Florida jurisdiction. When Dorian hit the Bahamas, the texts between the archbishop and the Knights in Florida were traded back and forth.
Winn was prepared to respond to the bishop and his people. Since, July 1, the Knights have stepped up service efforts with their new Disaster Response Program. Once Dorian made landfall in the Bahamas, the organization developed a fundraising campaign posting information about it on their state and supreme council websites.
“Things change day by day,” Winn told the Florida Catholic, newspaper of the Diocese of West Palm Beach. He added that some Knights have offered to navigate their own boats to the Bahamas to deliver items.
The Knights’ disaster response program arose following the destruction Hurricane Harvey wrought in Houston in 2017.
Florida State Deputy Scott O’Connor of Pembroke Pines in the Archdiocese of Miami said in a statement, “We have a much more defined program with people and contacts, and we are also working directly with Catholic Charities because they already have an infrastructure in place.”
The Boca Raton-based Cross Catholic Outreach, is providing assistance to the Bahamas with shipments of food, medicines and other critical resources. Cross Catholic Outreach has already shipped over 540,000 meals to help affected families and children.
To get resources in quickly and distributed effectively, Cross Catholic Outreach is working with Catholic Charities of Miami and Archbishop Pinder of Nassau. The first shipments included scientifically formulated meals designed to do more than satisfy hunger.
“It’s important to address hunger with nutrient-rich meals,” said a statement by Cavnar, president of Cross Catholic Outreach. “The food we are shipping is created for situations like this, and it will go a long way in keeping people healthy as they face the stresses and hardships ahead.”

(Contributing to this story were Ana Rodriguez-Soto in Miami and Linda Reeves in Boynton Beach.)

Church must seek new paths in Amazon

By Junno Arocho Esteves
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Synod of Bishops for the Amazon will help the Catholic Church make its presence felt and voice heard in a region that is dangerously approaching “a point of no return,” said the special secretaries of the synod.
“It is a great and continuing challenge for the Catholic Church to make the original Amazonian peoples feel part of it and contribute to it with the light of Christ and the spiritual richness that shines in their cultures,” Cardinal-designate Michael Czerny and Bishop David Martinez De Aguirre Guinea wrote in an article published Sept. 12 in La Civilta Cattolica, the Jesuit journal.
Cardinal-designate Czerny, undersecretary of the Migrants and Refugee Section of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and Bishop Martinez, apostolic vicar of Puerto Maldonado, Peru, said the synod will take place at a time when “both human and natural life are suffering serious and perhaps irreversible destruction.”
The synod, scheduled for Oct. 6-27, will focus on “Amazonia: New paths for the church and for an integral ecology.”
The Amazon rainforest includes territory belonging to nine countries in South America and has experienced significant deforestation, negatively impacting the indigenous populations in the area and leading to a loss of biodiversity.
As special secretaries, Cardinal-designate Czerny and Bishop Martinez will assist Brazil’s Cardinal Claudio Hummes, synod relator general, in providing a comprehensive outline of the synod’s theme at the beginning of the meeting and summarizing the speeches of synod members before work begins on concrete proposals for the pope.
In the article, titled “Why the Amazon merits a synod,” the prelates said that the synod for the Amazon is an effort to implement “’Laudato Si’ in this fundamental human and natural environment.”
Much like Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical “Rerum Novarum” recognized the exploitation of workers in the early days of the industrial revolution, Pope Francis’ observations on the “gross inequality and cruel marginalization” caused by financial and consumerist greed call “for a new attitude toward nature and the social environment.”
“This new synthesis is a wake-up call to the entire world, to all of humanity,” they wrote. “But it also suggests a new socio-pastoral orientation and dynamic for the church, which must understand the challenges faced by individuals and families and groups within these various dimensions.”
However, Cardinal-designate Czerny and Bishop Martinez wrote that the church “cannot give spiritual guidance and pastoral care if people are understood in isolation from – i.e. not integrated with – how they live and function within the actual natural, economic and social conditions that they face.”
They also noted that the crisis facing the region is not limited only to environmental problems such as pollution, privatization of natural goods and trafficking.
“Mercantilism, secularization, the throwaway culture and the idolatry of money” coupled with decreasing numbers of priests and religious “is endangering the presence of the Catholic Church among the indigenous peoples of the Amazon.”
Such challenges, they added, require a response that moves from a “ministry of visits to a ministry of presence.”
“This is why, during the October Synod, the entire world should walk with the people of the Amazon; not to expand or divert the agenda, but to help the synod to make a difference,” the prelates wrote. “The Amazon region is huge, and its challenges are immense. If destroyed, the impacts will be felt worldwide.”

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