Updates

Abuse prevention expert offers training

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By Maureen Smith
MADISON – Dr. Monica Applewhite, an internationally recognized expert in abuse prevention, offered a day-long training to teachers, principals and diocesan employees on Monday, Jan 4 at St. Joseph High School. The following two days she was set to offer workshops to the priests and lay ministers.
Applewhite has spent 25 years studying how organizations can prevent child abuse and train their employees to create safer environments for young people and vulnerable populations.

MADISON – Monica Applewhite answers questions from local broadcast media during a break in her presentation.

During Monday’s workshops she told the history of child abuse prevention law and cultural attitude. She also spoke about the different kinds of abusers in society. The afternoon focused on peer-to-peer abuse.
The training was too close to deadline for full coverage, but look for an expanded story on Appewhite in an April edition of Mississippi Catholic dedicated to Child Abuse Prevention Month.

MADISON – Almost 500 teachers, administrators and support staff from schools across the Diocese of Jackson joined diocesan staff and employees Monday, Feb. 4, at St. Joseph School for a da-long workshop on child abuse prevention. (Photos by Maureen Smith)

 

Youth convention builds faith, hope, love

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VICKSBURG – High School youth from dozens of parishes gatherd at the Vicksburg Conventon Center for the Diocecan Catholic Youth Convention 2019 on Feb. 1-3. The theme was faith, hope, love. Look for coverage in the next issuse of Mississippi Catholic. (Photos by Maureen Smith)

Youth convention, Vicksburg

Youth convention, Vicksburg

Youth convention, Vicksburg

Youth convention, Vicksburg

Youth convention, Vicksburg

Briefs nation and world

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NATION
Catholic Charities USA leaders outline immediate, long-term goals
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Two top Catholic Charities USA leaders outlined some of the short-term and long-term goals for the organization and its affiliates throughout the country Feb. 3 during the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering in Washington. Catholic Charities is in the midst of a five-year strategic plan to more sharply identify areas where it believes it can make a difference, said Brian Corbin, executive vice president of member services. One of those areas is refugee resettlement and immigration policy. Corbin said it has worked with Migration and Refugees Services of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to place 16,000 refugees across the country in collaboration with local Catholic Charities affiliates that have located sponsor families to help resettle those refugees. It also has partnered with the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Corbin said, on issues surrounding the continued migration of Latin Americans to the United States. Affordable housing is another of Catholic Charities USA’s strategic priorities. “In your own town, you probably know there are housing issues,” Corbin said. “Catholic Charities as an institution is the largest nonpublic provider of housing after the government. We are there. We will continue to be there,” he said to applause. Catholic Charities’ commitment extends to shelters, domestic-violence shelters, transitional housing and permanent housing, he said.

House members introduce bipartisan measure to ban abortions at 20 weeks
WASHINGTON (CNS) – U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, was joined by more than 100 other members of the House Jan. 24 in introducing the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act of 2019, a measure that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of gestation. Smith, a Catholic, who is co-chairman of the House Pro-Life Caucus, is the lead sponsor of the bill, which cites research showing that unborn babies “can feel agonizing pain” at 20 weeks of development. “The majority of Americans — some 59 percent according to a recent poll — support legal protection for pain-capable unborn children,” Smith said in introducing the bill. He was referring to results of an annual poll of Americans’ views on abortion conducted by the Marist Poll at Marist College and sponsored by the Knights of Columbus. The poll also showed that 75 percent of respondents want “substantial” restrictions on abortion access even as more than half of respondents describe themselves as “pro-choice.” The poll was conducted Jan. 8-10 and the results were released ahead of the Jan. 18 March for Life. “Today we know that unborn babies not only die but suffer excruciating pain during dismemberment abortion — a cruelty that rips arms and legs off a helpless child,” Smith said. “This tragic human rights abuse must end.”

Priest who was former national Renew leader and beloved pastor dies
TUCSON, Ariz. (CNS) – Msgr. Robert D. Fuller, an Arizona priest who was a national leader of the Renew movement in the early 1980s and a beloved pastor in the Tucson Diocese, died Jan. 23. He was 88. “We are privileged from time to time to meet a living giant,” said retired Tucson Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas, who worked with Msgr. Fuller for most of the last two decades. “I experienced that when I met Msgr. Fuller. He was an outstanding priest, a great preacher and a person of deep faith. He now enjoys the fulfillment of what he preached.” Tucson Bishop Edward J. Weisenburger will be the main concelebrant of a funeral Mass Feb. 1 for Msgr. Fuller at St. Augustine Cathedral in Tucson, followed by interment at Holy Hope Cemetery. Ordained a priest for the Tucson Diocese April 25, 1956, his assignments included serving as director of the Bureau of Information, which later became the diocesan Communications Office. He was appointed editor and business manager of the Arizona Register, as the diocesan newspaper was called, on June 7, 1963, after serving as assistant editor in 1961-63. Msgr. Fuller left Tucson for five years, from 1981 to 1986, to work for Renew, which is based in Newark, New Jersey. Renew fosters spiritual renewal in the Catholic tradition at the parish level by empowering individuals and communities to encounter God in everyday life.

Bishop tells Covington Catholic High School community he stands with them
COVINGTON, Ky. (CNS) – You could literally hear a pin drop as the faculty, staff and student body of Covington Catholic High School waited in the gym Jan. 23 for the arrival of Covington Bishop Roger J. Foys. The bishop was there to address the students about the events that took place Jan. 18, after the March for Life in Washington, where a student standing face-to-face with a Native American elder was captured on video and ignited a firestorm on social media — making headlines around the world. Bob Rowe, principal, opened with a prayer and introduced Bishop Foys, who said: “These last four days have been a living hell for many of you, for your parents, for your relatives, for your friends and it certainly has been for me.” He told the assembly they are “under all kinds of pressure from a lot of different people, for a lot of different reasons.” The bishop also told the assembly that the contingent of students who went to the March for Life represented the best of the church and the diocese by standing up for life. Bishop Foys said an independent third party is investigating the Jan. 18 events that followed the march and he asked everyone to stay off of social media with regard to those events until the matter is resolved. “Regardless of what you heard or what you’ve read or what you think, I am on your side. I want you to come out of this in a positive light,” he said.

VATICAN
Vatican underlines support of universal health care coverage
GENEVA (CNS) – The Vatican supports efforts to build stronger and sustainable essential health care services on the way toward achieving universal health coverage, a Vatican official said. The Catholic Church is part of this effort in providing primary care to people in need and always “with due recognition to the sacredness of human life, from conception to natural death,” said Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, Vatican observer to U.N. agencies in Geneva. Speaking to the executive board of the World Health Organization Jan. 28, the archbishop noted the organization’s call for a renewal of primary health care and the Sustainable Development Goals’ target of universal health coverage to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. The Holy See affirms the call to mobilize all stakeholders to take joint action to build stronger and sustainable primary health care toward achieving universal health coverage,” he said in a brief address. In fact, over the course of 2018, “Catholic-inspired organizations provided health care at 5,287 hospitals and 15,397 dispensaries, 15,722 residential programs for the elderly and for persons living with debilitating chronic illnesses and other disabilities in all parts of the world,” he said.

Pope arrives in Abu Dhabi, praying for nearby Yemen
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – The sun had set long before Pope Francis arrived in Abu Dhabi Feb. 3, but Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince, and Egyptian Sheik Ahmad el-Tayeb, grand imam of al-Azhar, still went to the airport to welcome him. It had been a rare rainy day on the southeast coast of the Arabian peninsula, which, the pope told reporters traveling with him, was seen as a sign of blessing by the people of the United Arab Emirates. Since the pope arrived at almost 10 p.m. local time, the official welcoming ceremony was scheduled for the next day. But there was a brief greeting inside the President’s Airport. The pope then went to Al Mushrif Palace, the government’s guesthouse for visiting foreign dignitaries.

Global encounter of WYD challenges nationalism, walls

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By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The joyous harmony of people coming together from so many different nations for World Youth Day stands in sharp contrast to today’s “sad” situation of confrontational nationalist feelings, Pope Francis said.
“It is a sign that young Christians are the leaven for peace in the world,” he said at his general audience Jan. 30 in the Vatican’s Paul VI hall.
The pope dedicated his weekly reflection to his trip to Panama Jan. 23-27 to celebrate World Youth Day.
The hundreds of thousands of young people from five continents who attended the events “formed a great symphony of faces and languages,” he said.
“To see all the flags flying together, fluttering in the hands of young people, happy to encounter each other is a prophetic sign, a sign (that goes) against the tide of today’s sad tendency toward confrontational nationalist sentiments that erect walls, that close themselves off from universality, from the encounter among peoples,” he said.
He praised the enthusiasm and prayerful reverence young people showed at the many events and recalled the dedication he saw on the faces of many who declared themselves open to God’s will and ready serve the Lord.
“As long as there are new generations able to say, ‘Here I am’ to God, the world will have a future,” he said.
Another image that struck him during the trip, he said, was seeing so many mothers and fathers proudly holding up their children as he passed by in the popemobile.
They showed off their children “as if to say, ‘Here is my pride, here is my future,’” he said.
“How much dignity is in this gesture and how eloquent (given) the demographic winter we are living in Europe,” the pope said. “The pride of those families is the children; children are security for the future. A demographic winter without children is hard.”
Young people are called to live the Gospel today “because young people are not ‘the tomorrow,’ not ‘in the meantime,’ but they are the ‘today’ of the church and the world,” he said.
Pope Francis also urged people to pray the Way of the Cross, saying it is “the school of Christian life” where one learns about a love that is “patient, silent, concrete.”
He then said he wanted to share a secret with everyone and pulled out a small box, showing it to the crowd, explaining it was a pocket-sized kit for praying the Way of the Cross.
He said he loved following the Via Crucis “because it is following Jesus with Mary on the way of the cross where he gave his life for us, for our redemption.”
“When I have time,” he said, he takes the prayer kit out and prays, and he urged others to do the same.

Snake-bitten …

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Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI

IN EXILE
By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
Everything is of one piece. Whenever we don’t take that seriously, we pay a price.
The renowned theologian, Hans Urs Von Balthasar gives an example of this. Beauty, he submits, is not some little “extra” that we can value or denigrate according to personal taste and temperament, like some luxury that we say we cannot afford. Like truth and goodness, it’s one of the properties of God and thus demands to be taken seriously as goodness and truth. If we neglect or denigrate beauty, he says, we will soon enough begin to neglect other areas of our lives. Here are his words:
“Our situation today shows that beauty demands for itself at least as much courage and decision as do truth and goodness and she will not allow herself to be separated and banned from her two sisters without taking then along with herself in an act of mysterious vengeance. We can be sure that whoever sneers at her name, as if she were an ornament of a bourgeois past, whether he admits it or not, can no longer pray and soon will no longer be able to love.”
Here’s a simpler expression of that. There’s a delightful little African tale that highlights the interconnectedness of everything and illustrates how, if we separate a thing from its sisters, we soon pay a price. The tale goes this way:
Once upon a time, when animals still talked, the mice on a farm called a summit of all the other animals. They were worried, they lamented, because they had seen the mistress of the house buy a mousetrap. They were now in danger. But the other animals scoffed at their anxiety. The cow said that she had nothing to worry about. A tiny little contraption couldn’t harm her. She could crush it with her foot. The pig reacted in a similar way. What did he have to worry about in the face of a tiny trap? The chicken also announced that it had no fear of this gadget. “It’s your concern. No worry for me!” it told the mice.
But all things are interconnected and that soon became evident. The mistress set the mousetrap and, on the very first night, heard it snap. Getting out of her bed to look what it had caught and she saw that it had trapped a snake by its tail. In trying to free the snake she was bitten and the poison soon had her feeling sick and running a fever. She went to the doctor who gave her medicines to combat the poison and advised her: “What you need now to get better is chicken broth.” (You can guess where the rest of this is going.) They slaughtered the chicken, but her fever lingered. Relatives and neighbors came to visit. More food was needed. They slaughtered the pig. Eventually the poison killed her. A huge funeral ensued. A lot of food was needed. The slaughtered the cow.
The moral of the story is clear. Everything is interconnected and our failure to see that leaves us in peril. Blindness to our interdependence, willful or not, is dangerous. We are inextricably tied to each other and to everything in the world. We can protest to the contrary but reality will hold its ground. And so, we cannot truly value one thing while we disdain something else. We cannot really love one person while we hate someone else. And we cannot give ourselves an exemption in one moral area and hope to be morally healthy as a whole. Everything is of one piece. There are no exceptions. When we ignore that truth we are eventually be snake-bitten by it.
I emphasize this because today, virtually everywhere, a dangerous tribalism is setting in. Everywhere, not unlike the animals in that African tale, we see families, communities, churches and whole countries focusing more or less exclusively on their own needs without concern for other families, communities, churches and countries. Other people’s problems, we believe, are not our concern. From the narrowness in our churches, to identity politics, to whole nations setting their own needs first, we hear echoes of the cow, pig and chicken saying: “Not my concern! I’ll take care of myself. You take care of yourself!” This will come back to snake-bite us.
We will eventually pay the price for our blindness and non-concern and we will pay that price politically, socially and economically. But we will even pay a higher price personally. What that snake-bite will do is captured in Von Balthasar’s warning: Whoever ignores or denigrates beauty will, he asserts, eventually be unable to pray or to love. That’s true too in all cases when we ignore our interconnectedness with others. By ignoring the needs of others we eventually corrupt our own wholeness so that we are no longer be able to treat ourselves with respect and empathy and, when that happens, we lose respect and empathy for life itself – and for God – because whenever reality isn’t respected it bites back with a mysterious vengeance.

(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser, theologian, teacher and award-winning author, is President of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, TX.)

Quinto Aniversario

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Obispo Joseph R. Kopacz

Por Obispo Joseph Kopacz
El 6 de febrero, a principios de esta semana, recapitulé silenciosamente el quinto aniversario de mi ordenación e instalación como el onceavo Obispo de la Diócesis de Jackson.
Como sabemos, algunos días no tienen fin, pero una década puede pasar en un abrir y cerrar de ojos, (1Cor 15). Para mí, los últimos cinco años son oficialmente historia, por haberse movido a la velocidad de una lanzadera de telar, (Job 7,6). Muchos eventos y memorias se destacan vívidamente; algunos deben recuperarse revisando el calendario de un i-Phone; otros resurgen cuando vuelvo a visitar escuelas y parroquias, y otros cuando alguien, en una conversación, me recuerda un evento o encuentro.
Digo todo esto para indicar que el Señor me ha bendecido abundantemente a través del ministerio episcopal que tan generosamente me fue otorgado hace cinco años.
Incluso, los problemas actuales no suprimen la belleza, la verdad y la bondad que han surgido de nuestra renovadas Misión y Visión. Cada día tenemos la oportunidad de proclamar el Evangelio por la forma en que vivimos nuestras vidas para que todos puedan experimentar al Señor crucificado y resucitado.
El atractivo diseño de nuestra Visión diocesana me recuerda, dondequiera que esté en la diócesis, acerca de nuestras prioridades de inspirar a los discípulos, servir a los demás y abrazar la diversidad, así como se mostró en nuestra recién Conferencia Diocesana para Jóvenes. La Visión se ha adoptado y aplicado de manera creativa en toda la diócesis a través de la aplicación de nuestras prioridades pastorales, especialmente para invitar y reconciliar a las comunidades y para enseñar nuestra fe católica, de muchas y variadas formas, al ser buenos escribas en el Reino de los Cielos.
Recordamos las palabras de Jesús en el Evangelio de Mateo: “Cuando un maestro de la ley se instruye acerca del reino de los cielos, se parece al dueño de una casa, que de lo que tiene guardado sabe sacar cosas nuevas y cosas viejas”. (Mt 13,52) Podemos pensar en todos los canales de comunicación y evangelización al alcance de la mano, lo que es nuevo, así como las ya probadas formas de testificar, encontrar y acompañar.
Nuestra primera prioridad pastoral de invitar y reconciliar a las comunidades reconoce el llamado fundamental del Señor a arrepentirse y reconstruir la vida y la Iglesia acorde a las demandas del Evangelio. Esta llamada es siempre antigua y siempre nueva, y debe aplicarse vigorosamente al sufrimiento por la crisis de abuso sexual y al definido trastorno financiero en nuestra diócesis.
Crucificados con el Señor podemos resucitar con Él a una nueva vida.
El 6 de febrero, mi aniversario (que por cierto también es el cumpleaños de mi padre), tomé el largo vuelo a la India para mi primera visita pastoral a la tierra que nos está bendiciendo con sacerdotes dedicados y discípulos misioneros.
Ir cada año a Saltillo, México a nuestra misión de 50 años puede ser un reto, pero el subcontinente de la India será para mí navegar aguas desconocidas. Voy con mi guía de confianza, el Padre Albeen Vatti, pastor de San Francisco en Madison, de la Diócesis de Warangal, donde pasaremos un tiempo con el Obispo Bala, visitando entornos pastorales, así como con algunas familias de los sacerdotes que están sirviendo actualmente en la Diócesis de Jackson.
Desde allí, viajaremos a otros estados de la India para cumplir con visitas pastorales y a lo largo del camino, ver innumerables puntos de interés. La cultura y el modo de vida de esta nación densamente poblada me ofrecerán una experiencia cercana y personal en cada curva del camino. Espero con interés esta oportunidad para visitar la tierra donde el Apóstol Santo Tomás plantó las semillas del Evangelio.
Al hacer una breve pausa para reflexionar sobre este hito de 5 años en mi vida, aunque habrán 18 horas de vuelo a la India para hacer una reflexión considerable, estoy profundamente agradecido a tantos colegas de trabajo en la viña del Señor que sirven en toda la Diócesis, incluyendo ordenados, religiosos y religiosas y laicos, hombres y mujeres, que han respondido como discípulos a las demandas del Evangelio.
Por ejemplo, más de 500 personas asistieron al Día de Desarrollo Diocesano para Profesionales el pasado lunes, dirigido por Monica Applewhite, una líder en el campo de la prevención del abuso.
La cantidad suena como un número bíblico de discípulos a quienes el Señor ha parecido reunir en un solo lugar. (1Cor 15,6). Este evento es simplemente una muestra de los innumerables compañeros de trabajo que en nuestra diócesis están ocupados con los diseños del Señor y la mera mención de todos ellos superaría con creces el espacio disponible en esta edición del periódico Mississippi Catholic.
La belleza de la oración es que se extiende desde un extremo de la tierra hasta el otro y perfora los cielos.
Durante las dos semanas que estaré en la India recordaré, cada día en el altar, a todos ustedes y especialmente a las necesidades de nuestra Diócesis.
Sé que su oración también se extenderá a lo largo de kilómetros pidiendo las bendiciones del Señor en esta extraordinaria visita pastoral mientras los represento ante el pueblo de la India.

Reflecting on five years as bishop

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Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz

By Bishop Joseph Kopacz
On February 6, I quietly marked the fifth anniversary of my ordination and installation as the 11th bishop of the Diocese of Jackson. As we know some days never end, but a decade can pass in the twinkling of an eye. (1Cor 15) For me the past five years are officially history, having moved at the speed of a weaver’s shuttle, (Job 7,6).
Many events and memories stand out vividly; some have to be recalled by scrolling through my i-Phone calendar; others surface when I revisit schools and parishes and, still others when someone recalls an event or encounter in conversation.
All of it is to say that the Lord has blessed me abundantly through the episcopal ministry he so graciously bestowed upon me five years ago.
Even the current troubles do not suppress the beauty, truth and goodness that have flowed from our Mission and renewed Vision. Each day we have the opportunity to proclaim the Gospel by the way we live our lives so that all can experience the crucified and risen Lord.
The engaging design of our diocesan Vision reminds me wherever I am in the diocese about our priorities of inspiring disciples, serving others and embracing diversity, as was on display at our just completed diocesan youth conference. (See page 7 for photos)
The Vision has been embraced and applied in creative ways throughout the diocese through the application of our Pastoral Priorities, especially to be inviting and reconciling communities and to teach our Catholic faith by being good scribes in the Kingdom of Heaven in many and varied ways. We recall the words of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel: “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old,, (13,52).
We can think of all of the channels for communication and evangelization at our fingertips, that which is new, as well as the proven time tested ways of witnessing, encountering and accompanying.
Our first Pastoral Priority to be inviting and reconciling communities recognizes the fundamental call of the Lord to repent and rebuild one’s life and Church on the demands of the Gospel. This call is ever ancient and ever new, and must be vigorously applied to the suffering of the sexual abuse crisis, and the targeted financial upheaval in our diocese.
Crucified with the Lord we can rise with him to new life.
On February 6, my anniversary (which by the way also happens to be my father’s birthday), I am set to take the long flight to India for my first pastoral visit to the land that is blessing us with dedicated priests and missionary disciples. Going to Saltillo, Mexico, each year to our mission of 50 years can be a stretch, but the Indian subcontinent will be unchartered waters for me.
I will be going with my trusty guide, Father Albeen Vatti, pastor of Saint Francis in Madison, of the Diocese of Warangal where we will spend time with Bishop Bala, visiting many pastoral settings as well as some of the families of the priests who are serving currently in the Diocese of Jackson. From there we will travel to other Indian States for pastoral visits, as well as for seeing countless points of interests along the way. The culture and way of life of this densely-populated nation will make for an up close and personal experience at every bend in the road. I am looking forward to this opportunity to visit the land where Saint Thomas the Apostle planted the seeds of the Gospel.
As I briefly pause to reflect upon this five year milestone in my life, although there will be 18 hours of flying time to India to do considerable reflection, I am deeply grateful to so many coworkers in the vineyard of the Lord who serve throughout the diocese. These are the ordained, religious and lay women and men who have responded as disciples to the demands of the Gospel.
For example, more than 500 were on hand for the Diocesan Professional Development Day this past Monday led by Monica Applewhite, a leading practitioner in the field of abuse prevention. It sounds like a biblical number of disciples to whom the Lord has appeared gathered in one place, (1Cor 15,6).
This event is merely a sampling of the countless coworkers in our diocese busy about the Lord’s designs that the mere mentioning of them would far exceed the available space in this edition of the Mississippi Catholic.
The beauty of prayer is that it reaches from one end of the earth to the other and pierces the heavens. During the two weeks that I will be in India I will remember all y’all and the needs of our diocese especially at the altar each day.
I know that your prayer will also reach across the miles asking the Lord’s blessings on this extraordinary pastoral visit as I represent you to the people of India.

Catholic School students join national celebration

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By Maureen Smith
JACKSON – Catholic Schools across the Diocese of Jackson celebrated national Catholic Schools Week Jan. 27 – Feb. 1. Each school community hosted celebrations of their own – but they all connected to the national theme: “Catholic Schools: Learn. Serve. Lead. Succeed.” A winter storm forced two schools, Columbus Annunciation and Natchez Cathedral, to close for a day, but most were able to celebrate with their communities.
One of the largest events of the week was a rally held at the state capitol. Students from Jackson and Madison attended the rally to show off the impact Catholic schools have on the state of Mississippi. Speakers included Bishop Joseph Kopacz, School Superintendent Catherine Cook, Father Nick Adam, parochial vicar at St. Richard Parish and Father John Bohn, who is the canonical supervisor of Jackson St. Richard and Madison St. Joseph Schools.

JACKSON – Senator Walter Michel (R) Ridgeland, reads the Catholic Schools Week proclamation from Governor Phil Bryant on the steps of the state Capitol Thursday, Jan 31. The Madison St. Joseph band provided music and students from Jackson and Madison attended the rally. (Photos by Maureen Smith)

At Capitol, Jackson

At Capitol, Jackson

At Capitol, Jackson

At Capitol, Jackson

At Capitol, Jackson

At Capitol, Jackson

At Capitol, Jackson

VICKSBURG – Bishop Joseph Kopacz and Catherine Cook, superintendent of Catholic Schools, joined administrators at Vicksburg Catholic School and retired Father PJ Curley for a ceremony to rename the library after retired pastor Father Tom Lalor (center). (Photo by Mary Margaret Halford)

Vicksburg

Vicksburg

COLUMBUS – Patrick Doumit, a seventh-grader at Annunication School, boxes lunches as part of a massive service project. Annunication partnered with soup kitchen, Loaves and Fishes, to pack and deliver sack lunches for their lunches-to-go program to be distributed on the weekends when the soup kitchen is not open. Each bag included a pasta meal, bottle of water and breakfast bar. Each student donated and packed five bags each for a total of 1,004 bags. According to Loaves and Fishes president, Pam Rhea, this is the largest donation of lunches-to-go that the program has ever received. Students delivered this huge donation via the school bus on Thursday, January 31. (Photo by Katie Fenstermacher)

GREENWOOD – Sister Annette Kurey helps St. Francis of Assisi students prepare the gifts at Mass on Sunday, Feb. 27. Students served at the Parish Mass to kick off Catholic Schools Week. (Photo by Maureen Smith)

Greenwood

Greenwood

Greenwood

Greenwood

Greenwood

Greenwood

Greenwood

In Greenwood the students from St. Francis of Assisi school combined their Catholic Schools Week kickoff Mass with a celebration for the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity, several of whom are on staff at the school. The order, based in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. The motherhouse has asked each community of sisters to mark the anniversary in some special way. At Mass on Sunday, Jan. 27, students took on liturgical roles by proclaiming the word, singing and serving at the altar. Sisters Annette, Kathleen and Judith hosted an open house in their convent after Mass and people came out in droves to thank and celebrate their Sisters. (See page 16.
Greenville St. Joseph kicked off the week Monday by celebrating a $300,000 gift to the school from the estate of Father Richard Somers, former pastor. Father Somers left the money to the school community in his will. “We at St. Joseph Catholic School are appreciative of Father Somers’s love of Catholic Education, especially here at St. Joseph Catholic School in Greenville,” said principal Steve Wies.
Jackson St. Richard school showed off it’s science, technology, religion, engineering, arts and math (STREAM) program Tuesday night when families were invited to participate in STREAM projects together. Families made slime, operated robots and helped with other projects after everyone shared a meal.
Vicksburg Catholic School celebrated retired priest Father Tom Lalor by naming the high school library after him. Father Lalor was on hand for the dedication, part of a day of celebration at the school. Students at Columbus Annunciation Catholic School packed more than a thousand lunches for their local food bank.
Natchez Cathedral students also hosted a food drive, although their week was cut short by a day because of bad weather.
Each day at Madison St. Anthony day was focused on appreciating some part of the school community. The students and staff appreciated their parish, the clergy, their parents and their community helpers.
Clarksdale St. Elizabeth students got to invite special guests, such as grandparents or parents to each lunch with them during the week.
Southaven Sacred Heart students heard about different vocations in life from a priest, a religious sister and married couples. They also hosted their traditional “Hope Chain,” where students purchase paper chain links. On Friday, Feb. 1, the students hear about local charities and vote on which one should receive the proceeds from the chain.
Meridian St. Patrick school took their celebration to the streets – hosting a parade from the school to city hall where the mayor read a proclamation for Catholic Schools Week.
Academic excellence takes center stage at Jackson Sister Thea Bowman School, where honor roll and academic honors were presented after school Mass on Wednesday.
Catholic Schools Week is part of a national celebration. “Young people today need Catholic education more than ever,” said Bishop Michael C. Barber of Oakland, California, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Catholic Education. He also stressed that “being rooted in faith does not endanger the academic quality of Catholic schools, but in fact is their very motivation for excellence in all things.”
In a statement released for the observance, he said: “Following Christ’s example of loving and serving all people, Catholic schools proudly provide a well-rounded education to disadvantaged families, new arrivals to America and to all who seek a seat in our schools. Since the inception of Catholic schools in our country, we have always sought to welcome families of all backgrounds while maintaining our principles and teaching in a spirit of charity.”
Nearly 1.8 million students are currently educated in 6,352 Catholic schools in the United States.
Since 1974, National Catholic Schools Week has been the annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States, sponsored by the National Catholic Educational Association and the USCCB’s Secretariat of Catholic Education. Schools typically observe the annual weeklong celebration with Masses, open houses and other activities for students, families, parishioners and community members.

Sister Rita Goedken retires after ‘walking the talk’

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By Diane Herring
MORTON – For the past 10 years, Sister Rita Goedken has been the face of Morton’s Excel Community and Learning Center (ECLC). In mid-December she returned to Dubuque, Iowa, and the Sisters of St. Francis. As a person who admits she does not like heat and humidity, when asked how she came to be in Morton, Sister Rita gives an answer that could be a lyric to a country song.
“Each person has a limited number of years to ‘walk the talk,’” she says, referring to committing to giving back to and serving the community. She not only “talks the talk” but “walks the walk” as well.
Joining the community of the Sisters of St. Francis, Dubuque 55 years ago, Sister Rita has served in areas from Wisconsin to Oregon and from Michigan to Mississippi.
Born in Petersburg, Iowa and reared on a farm in a community she describes as, “very rural, smaller than Morton.”
“I had 11 brothers and sisters,” she says. “We grew up on a 160-acre farm where we raised chickens, dairy cattle and hogs. It is, I think, the root of my passion to take care of the earth.”
Trained as a teacher, having majored in history and minored in math, she taught in Iowa and Oregon and worked in pastoral administration in Michigan and Wisconsin. She served eight years to the leadership committee of Sisters of St. Francis.
She adds, “While serving on the leadership team, our community studied water issues. The Sisters commissioned us to come up with a project, one that all Sisters of St. Francis could support. As a result, Sister Water Project (SWP) was developed in 2006 and focuses on water, providing clean drinking water in areas where the need is the greatest, where it would benefit the poorest of the poor.”
“The SWP is active in Honduras and Tanzania,” Sister Rita says. “In Tanzania the SWP has completed 203 wells. All 203 are operative. In Honduras the SWP has collaborated with other entities to bring safe drinking water to remote villages that currently don’t have access to it.”
In the mid-1990’s the Franciscan Sisters decided to establish missions in low-income areas with multicultural populations. Morton is one of the sites selected. Sister Rita had been here to visit, and something sparked.
“It was just the place I needed to be,” she says.
So, Sister Rita came to Morton where she has helped the ECLC Excel to grow and serve.
“The first Franciscan Sisters to work in Morton came in 1999,” says Sister Eileen Hauswald, Director, ECLC. “Sisters Nona, Camilla, and Terri worked with local volunteers and implemented the initial programs, like the Faith in Action meal deliveries to elderly and shut-ins and the after-school tutoring for children and summer day camps. “Pnykii McDougle was a student at ECLC Summer Day Camps growing up and now, as a student majoring in education at Mississippi State University, is a teaching assistant in the after school tutoring program. She says, “Sister Rita is an inspiration to me.”
“Most people will speak of Sister Rita’s work ethic and they would be right,” says Claudia Rowland, Teacher Coordinator. “But I will remember her love of history. I’ll miss her very much.
Looking back, Sister Rita says, “When I came to Morton there was a recession but people in Morton came in and supported the center and our work. Today there is more life in town. Wonderful people come into the center and volunteer time, talents and materials, all gratis. ‘I would like to see everybody from every tribe, tongue and nation represented in our community come and participate in our programs and services. I’ve met a host of generous, competent, wonderful people. For each I am grateful. It is the people I will miss and remember.”
For 10 years Rita Goedken has walked the walk and talked the talk, managing to inspire volunteers to join her on the journey. Morton and Scott county will miss her.

(NOTE: It is requested that no gifts be given, however, contributions to Excel or the Sister Water Project would be appreciated and received in honor of Sister Rita.)
(Diane Herring is a member of the Excel Center Advisory Board.)