With synod in mind, US bishops focus on advancing core mission priorities
By Peter Jesserer smith BALTIMORE (OSV News) –
The U.S. bishops’ annual fall assembly in Baltimore saw the shepherds of the Catholic Church in this country make intentional steps toward integrating their work with the synodal missionary style called for by the global church’s recently concluded Synod on Synodality.
At the outset of the Nov. 11-14 plenary assembly, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, delivered a homily in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary – “the mother church of the synodal activity of the hierarchy in this country” – where he called upon the bishops to beg for wisdom “because we recognize that we are servants of the truth and charged to find ways to help those entrusted to our care.”
At the opening public session, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the papal ambassador to the U.S., told the bishops that Pope Francis’ recent encyclical “Dilexit Nos,” on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, is a call to “return to the heart” of Jesus – and key to understanding the
church’s call to synodal evangelization, Eucharistic revival and the upcoming Jubilee 2025.
“The deeper we go into his heart, the more strengthened we will be to proclaim the Good News together,” he said Nov. 12.
Over the course of the assembly’s Nov. 12 and 13 public sessions, the bishops voted to approve a new “mission directive” for 2025-2028, which commits USCCB committees and staff to prioritize in their work “evangelizing those who are religiously unaffiliated or disaffiliated from the Church, with special focus on young adults and the youth.”
Regarding the global synod that concluded in October, a majority of the U.S. bishops in a voice vote Nov. 12 called for the USCCB’s Committee on Priorities and Plans to discern developing a task force to help the conference and dioceses implement the final synod document approved by Pope Francis.
Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas, who has led the USCCB’s involvement in the synod
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U.S. bishops: ‘We stand in firm solidarity’ with immigrants
By Gina Christian
(OSV News) – With immigration an ongoing issue after the 2024 U.S. general election, three U.S. Catholic bishops issued a Nov. 14 statement of pastoral concern pledging support for immigrants.
“Compelled by the Gospel of Jesus Christ and recognizing the inherent dignity of each person as a child of God, we stand in firm solidarity with our immigrant brothers and sisters who live and labor in these United States,” wrote Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Migration; and Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, chairman of the board for Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc.
Known as CLINIC, the network is a Maryland-based nonprofit that provides advocacy, training and support for more than 400 Catholic and community-based immigration law providers in 49 U.S. states.
The bishops noted that “from the founding of our nation, immigrants have been essential to this society’s growth and prosperity.”
“They come to our shores as strangers,
drawn by the promises this land offers, and they become Americans,” said the bishops. “They continue to provide food security, health services, and many other essential skills that support our prosperous nation.”
According to data from the Pew Research Center, immigrants currently account for 14.3% of the U.S. population – the highest level since 1910, but still less than the 14.8% marked in 1890.
Data for 2022 showed that the majority of immigrants (77%) are in the U.S. legally, with close to half (49%) being naturalized citizens, just under a quarter (24%) lawful permanent residents and 4% legal temporary residents. Slightly less than one quarter (23%) are unauthorized.
While President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, the bishops said in their statement that “our country
Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, Va., speaks during a Nov. 13, 2024, session of the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)
SPIRITUAL ENRICHMENT
GLUCKSTADT – St. Joseph, Millions of Monicas – Praying with confidence for our children, each Tuesday from 6:30-7:30 p.m. in the church. Join with other mothers, grandmothers and step-mothers as we pray to grow in holiness and humility, and for our children’s faithful return to the church. Details: church office (601) 856-2054 or email millionsofmonicas@stjosephgluckstadt.com.
St. Joseph, Fatima Five First Saturdays Devotion, Jan. 4, Feb. 1, March 1, April 5 and May 3, 2025. Confession begins at 8 a.m. and ends with a period of meditation beginning at 10 a.m. Details: church office (601) 856-2054.
OFFICE OF CATHOLIC EDUCATION – The OCE hosts a Zoom Rosary the first Wednesday of each month during the school year at 7 p.m. On Dec. 4, Annunciation School will lead us in prayer. Join early and place your intentions in the chat. Details: Join the rosary via zoom at https://bit.ly/zoomrosary2024 or check the diocese calendar of events.
ROBINSONVILLE – Good Shepherd, “Journey through Advent,” Wednedays, Dec. 4, 11 and 18 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Small group sessions on Advent Sunday readings led by Sister Rose. All are invited! Details: church office (662) 342-1073.
PARISH, FAMILY & SCHOOL EVENTS
COLUMBUS – Annunciation Parish, “Columbus Sings G.F. Handel’s Messiah,” Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. Tickets available in church office. No charge. Details: church office (662) 328-2927.
CORINTH – St. James the Less, Parish Thanksgiving Meal, Thursday, Nov. 28 after 9 a.m. Mass. Bring your favorite dish and celebrate Father Mario’s birthday. Come enjoy fellowship and give thanks to God for all of His blessings. Details: church office (662) 331-5184.
FLOWOOD – St. Paul, Christmas Bingo, Friday, Dec. 6, doors open at 6 p.m. with bingo at 6:30 p.m. Be
sure to wear your festive Christmas attire and come join the fun. Adults only. BYOB. Details: church office (601) 992-9547.
St. Paul, Breast Cancer Support Group, Sunday, Dec. 8 at 2:30 p.m. in the Family Life Center (St. Peter’s Room). A gathering of women in all stages of their breast cancer journey. Details: call or text Monica at (601) 942-5753.
HERNANDO – Holy Spirit, Christmas Program and Dinner, Sunday, Dec. 8. Save the date. Details: Keelan at (601) 604-2202.
JACKSON – St. Peter the Apostle, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025 from 1-2:30 p.m. with speaker Constance Slaughter Harvey. You may write a one page reflection on how Dr. King’s message impacted your life or society. Submit no later than Jan. 10. Details: amelia.breton@jacksondiocese.org.
MERIDIAN – St. Patrick School, Candy Cane Dash, Saturday, Dec. 7 at 8:30 a.m. Details: register at https://time2run.raceentry.com/candy-cane-5kdash/race-information.
NATCHEZ – St. Mary Basilica, Advent Wreath Workshop, Sunday, Dec. 1, in the Family Life Center after 10 a.m. Mass. Families or individuals are invited to come and make an Advent wreath. Fun craft activities available for children. Details: church office (601) 445-5616.
SOUTHAVEN – Christ the King, Advent Program, Sunday, Dec. 1 at 4 p.m. followed by dinner. Details: church office (662) 342-1073.
DIOCESE
#iGiveCatholic on #GivingTuesday, Dec. 3, Advanced giving is now open – Nov. 18 through Dec. 2. Details: https://jackson.igivecatholic.org.
YOUNG ADULTS – Theology on Tap Karaoke Christmas, Thursday, Dec. 19 from 7-9 p.m. at Mr. Chen’s Restaurant in Jackson. Adults 21+ are welcome for an evening of food, fellowship and karaoke.
Guest are responsible for cost of drinks and dinner. Details: amelia.rizor@jacksondiocese.org.
Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage, May 12-27. Father Lincoln Dall will be leading this once in a lifetime journey. Space is limited. Email amelia.rizor@ jacksondiocese.org for more information.
YOUTH – Diocesan SEARCH Retreat for tenth through twelfth graders, Jan. 17-19, 2025 at Camp Wesley Pines, Gallman. Diocese High School Confirmation Retreat, Jan. 25-26, 2025 at Lake Forest Ranch, Macon. Diocese Catholic Youth Conference – DCYC for ninth through twelfth grades, March 21-23, 2025 at the Vicksburg Convention Center. Details: contact your individual parish offices or contact Abbey at (601) 949-6934 or abbey.schuhmann@jacksondiocese. org.
CATHOLIC ENGAGED ENCOUNTER – CEE is the diocesan marriage prep program for couples preparing for the sacrament of marriage. The upcoming weekends for 2025 are: Feb. 21-23; Aug. 1-3; and Oct. 24-26 at Camp Garaywa in Clinton; and April 25-27 at Lake Tiak-O’Khata in Louisville. Register at https:// bit.ly/CEE2024-2025. Details: email debbie.tubertini@jacksondiocese.org.
PENANCE SERVICES
CLINTON – Holy Savior, Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 6 p.m.
CANTON – Sacred Heart, Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 6 p.m.
COLUMBUS – Annunciation, Thursday, Dec. 19 at 6 p.m.
GREENVILLE – St. Joseph, Monday, Dec. 16 at 5:30 p.m.
HERNANDO – Holy Spirit, Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 7 p.m.
JACKSON – Cathedral of St. Peter, Tuesday, Dec. 17 from 5:30-7 p.m.
MADISON – St. Francis, Thursday, Dec. 5 at 6 p.m.
MAGEE – St. Stephen, Monday, Dec. 9 at 6 p.m.
OLIVE BRANCH – Queen of Peace, Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m.
PEARL – St. Jude, Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 6 p.m.
SOUTHAVEN – Christ the King, Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m.
R dgeland Cl nton
APPLIANCE AUDIO VIDEO BEDDING FURNITURE SUPERSTORE
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Jackson Flowood Pearl
FEATURE PHOTO ... Insert Statue Here ...
JACKSON — A spot in the parking lot of the Cathedral of St. Peter is being prepared for the arrival of a bronze statue of Sister Thea Bowman. Bishop Joseph Koapcz will bless the statue following Mass on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 11 a.m. in the Cathedral. (Photos by Tereza Ma)
Kaleidoscope of hope
By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
The recently concluded annual Bishops’ Conference in Baltimore was packed with meetings, presentations, elections to various committees, updates and impacts regarding the aftermath of the national elections, and conversations on many levels about pathways forward for the Catholic Church in the United States. It is a very dynamic environment that has the characteristics of a colorful kaleidoscope, except in this gathering the moving parts are all clothed in black. Yet, in recent years those who plan the annual event, at the behest of the body of bishops, have incorporated more time for quiet prayer, eucharistic adoration, relaxing meals and some exercise. As always, the daily Masses provide the anchor for all activity that follows in the course of a day.
Each time the national conference of bishops gathers the apostolic nuncio addresses the assembled body. Cardinal Christophe Pierre currently occupies the office of nuncio as Pope Francis’ ambassador to the church in the United States. His message is always a window into the Holy Father’s recent teachings, pertinent events in the church in the United States and throughout the world, and an overview of the church in relationship to the modern world. Of course, a significant milestone in our time is the recently concluded Synod on Synodality, a three-year journey that produced a final document to guide the church from within and to encourage prophetic dialogue with the modern world. There will be much to unpack, study and apply for the foreseeable future.
In his address Cardinal Christophe pointed to the upcoming Jubilee Year of Hope that will be inaugurated by Pope Francis on the feast of the Holy Family on Dec. 29, 2024. The Holy Father has written a marvelous document for this Year of Favor and Grace from the Lord, entitled, Spes non Confundit, or Hope does not Disappoint. (Romans 5:5)
Happy Ordination Anniversary
December 16
Father Alexis Zuniga Velasquez, ST
December 18
Deacon Carlos Sola
December 19
Father Thomas Mullally, SVD
December 19
Father Octavio Escobar Rangel, OdeM
December 27
Father Antony Chakkalakkal
The full context for this bold proclamation of faith is contained in the following passage. “Since we are justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing in the glory of God … Hope does not disappoint, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” (Ro-
December 27
Father Augustine Palimattam Poulose
Thank you for answering the call!
P.O. Box 2130 Jackson, MS 39225-2130
Phone: 601-969-3581 E-mail: editor@jacksondiocese.org
Volume 70 Number 21 (ISSN 1529-1693)
Publisher Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz
Communications Director Joanna Puddister King
Production Manager Tereza Ma
MISSISSIPPI CATHOLIC is an official publication of the Diocese of Jackson, 601-969-1880, 237 E. Amite St., Jackson, MS 39201. Published digitally twice per month January – April and September – December; once per month June, July and August. Mississippi Catholic mails 14 editions per year – twice per month in December and January; and once per month February –November. For address changes, corrections or to join the email list for the digital edition, email: editor@jacksondiocese.org. Subscription rate: $20 a year in Mississippi, $21 out-of-state. Periodical postage at Jackson, MS 39201 and additional entry offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Mississippi Catholic, P.O. Box 2130, Jackson, MS 39225-2130.
Website: www.mississippicatholic.com w www.jacksondiocese.org
mans 5:1-2.5)
Pope Francis offers this reflection regarding St. Paul’s inspired words to the Romans. “In the spirit of hope, the Apostle Paul addressed these words of encouragement to the Christian community of Rome. Hope is the central message of the coming Jubilee that, in accordance with an ancient tradition, the Pope proclaims every twenty-five years. My thoughts turn to all those pilgrims of hope who will travel to Rome in order to experience the Holy Year and to all those others who, though unable to visit the City of the Apostles Peter and Paul, will celebrate it in their local churches. For everyone, may the Jubilee be a moment of genuine, personal encounter with the Lord Jesus, the “door” (cf. John 10:7.9) of our salvation, whom the church is charged to proclaim always, everywhere and to all as “our hope.” (1 Tim 1:1) (Spes non Confundit)
For the Christian, hope is born of love and based on the love springing from the pierced heart of Jesus upon the cross: “For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:19)
Along with the Jubilee of Hope the nuncio also drew upon the Holy Father’s most recent encyclical on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Delixit Nos, (The Lord) He loved us. “The symbol of the heart has often been used to express the love of Jesus Christ. Some have questioned whether this symbol is still meaningful today. Yet living as we do in an age of superficiality, rushing frenetically from one thing to another without really knowing why, and ending up as insatiable consumers and slaves to the mechanisms of a market unconcerned about the deeper meaning of our lives, all of us need to rediscover the importance of the heart.” (Delixit Nos)
When the heart is emboldened by God’s grace, we can face an uncertain future better equipped to avoid the mine fields of unbelief, doubt and fear. Once again, the Holy Father yearns to carry on his shoulders a world mired in darkness and division into the light of a new day suffused with the heart and hope of the Gospel.
BISHOP’S SCHEDULE
Sunday, Nov. 24, 9 a.m. – Christ the King Feast Day Celebration, Christ the King, Jackson
Sunday, Nov. 24, 5:30 p.m. – Confirmation and OCIA Mass, St. Joseph, Starkville
Tuesday, Nov. 26, 7:30 a.m. – Mass, Carmelite Monastery, Jackson
Tuesday, Nov. 26 – Thanksgiving Meal, Parchman Penitentiary
Wednesday, Nov. 27, 12:05 p.m. – Mass, Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle, Jackson
Tuesday, Dec. 3, 10 and 17, 7:30 a.m. – Mass, Carmelite Monastery, Jackson
Saturday, Dec. 7 – Anniversary Mass and Celebration, St. Michael, Paulding
Saturday, Dec. 21, 11 a.m. – Sister Thea Bowman Statue Dedication and Mass, Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle, Jackson
Monday, Jan. 6-9 – Region V Bishops’ Retreat, New Orleans
Saturday, Jan. 18, 1 p.m. – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration, Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle, Jackson
All events are subject to change. Check with parishes and schools for further details.
VOCATIONs 4
Our first annual Called by Name weekend has wrapped up. Every parish priest was asked to share his vocation story during Mass on the weekend of Nov. 9-10, and then every parishioner was asked if they knew of a man in their parish that they wanted to encourage in his discernment. We will not have final numbers in for a few weeks, as all the cards are being sent to our partners at Vianney Vocations so they can enter the data, but I know that 26 names were submitted via our new jacksonvocations. com website alone. That is 26 names we would not have gotten in prior years, and that is 26 opportunities to reach out and encourage a young man to take his vocation seriously, whether he ends up going to the seminary or not.
All of this is designed to get many more young men thinking about priesthood, and to therefore get many more young men to attend the seminary. As I’ve stated, we want to have 33 seminarians by the year 2030. I believe that many more men are called to the seminary than are currently in the seminary, and we want to change that. The seminary is not the place for fully formed priests, rather, it is the primary place of formation. You don’t have to know you are going to be ordained in order to be a good candidate for the seminary. In fact, most guys don’t know they are going to be ordained. Ordination comes after 7-9 years of prayer, life in community and study. We want more men to enter the seminary so that they can discover whether or not they are called to be priests.
I want to be clear, however, that this does not mean that there is a ‘low bar’ to be accepted to seminary. We have spent the last several years bolstering our application process so that we help a
young man discern whether or not seminary is the right fit for him. It is delicate work trying to discern with a man whether the Lord is calling him to the seminary, and I can’t be the only one who discerns with a man. We have a team of experts in Louisville, Kentucky who work with us and our applicants and proctor psychological testing in order to help the applicant, and us, understand whether a man would be a good fit for seminary life. As I’ve stated before, I loved my time in the seminary, but if a man is not prepared for the academic and social rigor that is present there, then it will not be as positive an experience for him, or for the community. We also have a vocations board in the diocese that meets with an applicant and provides a recommendation to myself and the Bishop. The team meets with the applicant after all the other work is done – references are checked, tests are administered, many conversations are had, and I present that work to the board for their review.
I have grown much more comfortable in recent years taking men through this process and also being honest when necessary, when I think the process may have reached its end. I believe that more men are called to seminary than are currently in seminary, but I also take my responsibility to help these men discern seriously. We have these protocols in place so we only accept a man who will be able to enter into seminary life freely and joyfully, so that he can be formed into the Catholic man God has called him to be, whether or not he becomes a priest. And as the net widens and more men (please God) apply for seminary, this process will continue to be vital.
Please pray for me, our vocations board, and all those who work with seminary applicants. We want to invite as many qualified men into the seminary as we can, but we also need to be good stewards of the resources given to us by the people of God, and good leaders for these men who are trusting us with their future.
Pope says he’ll canonize Acutis, Frassati, host meeting on child’s
By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis announced that he will canonize Blesseds Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati next year and that the Vatican will host a world meeting on the rights of the child Feb. 3.
The pope will canonize Blessed Acutis April 27, during the Jubilee for Adolescents in Rome April 25-27 and Blessed Frassati during the Jubilee of Young People in Rome July 28-Aug. 3.
The pope made the announcement during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square Nov. 20, which is World Children’s Day.
The annual celebration marks the date when the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959 and when the assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989.
“On the occasion of the International Day of the Rights of the Child and Adolescents that is celebrated today,” the pope said he wanted to announce holding a world meeting at the Vatican.
The World Leaders’ Summit on Children’s Rights will be dedicated to the theme of “Let’s love them and protect them,” and it will include experts and celebrities from different countries, the pope said.
“It will be an occasion to pinpoint new paths directed at better assisting and protecting children still without rights who live in precarious conditions. They are exploited and abused and suffer the dramatic consequences of wars,” he said.
Pope Francis recognized May 23, 2024, the second miracle needed for the canonization of Italian Blessed Carlo Acutis, who died of leukemia in 2006 at the age of 15. He is pictured in an undated photo. (CNS photo/courtesy Sainthood Cause of Carlo Acutis)
A small group of children involved in preparing for the Feb. 3 meeting joined the pope for a photograph after the announcement along with Franciscan Father
rights
Enzo Fortunato, coordinator of the church’s first World Children’s Day, which was held in Rome May 25.
Pope Francis also established a new papal committee for World Children’s Day and named Father Fortunato its president.
The new committee, he said, will ensure that “World Children’s Day does not remain an isolated event” and that “the pastoral care for children increasingly becomes a more qualified priority in evangelical and pedagogical terms,” he said in the decree, also known as a chirograph, published by the Vatican Nov. 20.
The aim of the world day, he said, is to make a concrete contribution toward carrying out “the church’s commitment to children” by giving voice to children’s rights and making sure the church’s pastoral activities have the same kind of care and attention toward children Jesus had.
Other goals include helping the Christian community become more of “an educating community capable first of all of being evangelized by the voice of the little ones” and helping the church become more “like children” and let go of “signs of power” in order to become “a welcoming and livable home for all, starting with children,” the decree said.
Pope Francis said he wants the day to be celebrated at the universal, regional, national and local levels and, therefore, the committee will help promote and organize those celebrations with the universal event held “possibly every two years.”
“I entrust the preparation of World Children’s Day to the regional and national bishops’ conferences that will institute local organizing committees,” he said.
– Father Nick Adam, vocation director
Father Nick Adam
Refugees, immigrants and Jesus
IN EXILE
By Father ron rolheiser, oMi
On borders everywhere in the world today we find refugees, millions of them. They’re easily demonized, seen as a nuisance, a threat, as invaders, as criminals fleeing justice in their homelands. But mostly they are decent, honest people fleeing poverty, hunger, victimization and violence. And these reasons for fleeing their homelands strongly suggest that most of them are not criminals.
Irrespective of the fact that most of them are good people, they are still seen most everywhere as a problem. We need to keep them out! They are a threat! Indeed, politicians frequently use the verb invasion to describe their presence on our borders.
What’s to be said about this? Do we just let everyone in? Do we select judiciously among them, letting some in and keeping others out? Do we put up walls and barbed wire to block their entry? What’s to be our response?
These questions need to be examined from two perspectives: pragmatically and biblically.
Pragmatically this is a huge issue. We cannot simply open all borders and let millions of people flood into our countries. That’s unrealistic. On the other hand, we may not justify our reluctance to let refugees into our countries by appealing to the Bible, or to Jesus, or to the naïve rationalization that “our” countries are ours and we have a right to be here while others don’t unless we grant them entrance. Why not?
For Christians, there are a number of non-negotiable biblical principles at play here.
First, God made the world for everybody. We are stewards of a property not our own. We don’t own anything, God does, and God made the world for everybody. That’s a principle we too easily ignore when we speak of barring others from entering “our” country. We happen to be stewards here, in a country that belongs to the whole world.
Second, the Bible everywhere, in both testaments of scripture, is clear (and strong) in challenging us to welcome the stranger and the immigrant. This is everywhere present in the Jewish scriptures and is a strong motif at the very heart of Jesus’ message. Indeed, Jesus begins his ministry by telling us that he has come to bring good news to the poor. Hence, any teaching, preaching, pastoral practice, political policy or action that is not good news for the poor is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ, whatever its political or ecclesial expediency. And, if it is not good news for the poor, it may not cloak itself with the Gospel or with Jesus. Hence, any decisions we make vis-à-vis refugees and immigrants should not be antithetical to the fact that the Gospels are about bringing good news to the poor.
Moreover, Jesus makes this even clearer when he identifies the poor with his own person (Whatsoever you do to the least of my people, you do to me) and tells us that at the end of the day we will be judged by how we treat the immigrants and refugees. (Depart from me because I was a stranger and you didn’t welcome me.) There are few texts in scripture as raw and challenging as this one (Matthew 25:35-40)
Finally, we also find this challenge in scripture: God challenges us to welcome foreigners (immigrants) and share our love, food and clothing with them because we ourselves were once immigrants.
(Deuteronomy 10:18-19) And this isn’t just some abstract biblical axiom, especially for us who live in North America. Except for the Indigenous nations (whom we forcefully displaced) we are all immigrants here and are challenged by our faith never to forget this, not least when dealing with hungry people on our borders. Of course, those of us who have been here for a number of generations can make the moral case that we have been here a long time and are no longer immigrants. But perhaps a more compelling moral case can be made suggesting it can be rather self-serving to close the borders after we ourselves are in.
These are biblical challenges. However, after they are affirmed, we are still left with the practical question; what realistically do we (and many countries
around the world) do with the millions and millions of men, women and children arriving at our border? How do we honor the fact that the land we live in belongs to everyone? How do we honor that fact that, as Christians, we have to think first about the poor? How will we face Jesus in judgment when he asks us why we didn’t welcome him when he was in the guise of a refugee? And how do we honor the fact that almost every one of us is an immigrant, living in a country we forcibly took from someone else?
There are no easy answers to those questions, even while at the end of the day we still need to make some practical political decisions.
However, in our pragmatism, in sorting this out, we should never be confused about which side Jesus and the Bible are on.
(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser is a theologian, teacher and award-winning author. He can be contacted through his website www.ronrolheiser.com.)
Pope urges leaders to serve with humility, care for vulnerable
By Justin Mclellan
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – People in positions of authority should care for the vulnerable and exercise their power with humility, not with hypocrisy and arrogance, Pope Francis said.
Reflecting on the day’s Gospel reading from St. Mark, the pope highlighted Jesus’ warning about “the hypocritical attitude of some scribes” who use their prestige in the community to look down on others.
“This is very ugly, looking down on another person from above,” the pope told visitors gathered in St. Peter’s Square Nov. 10. “They put on airs and, hiding behind a facade of feigned respectability and legalism, arrogated privileges to themselves and even went so far as to commit outright theft to the detriment of the weakest, such as widows.”
In St. Mark’s Gospel, Jesus denounces the scribes who “devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers,” adding that “they will receive a very severe condemnation.”
Pope Francis said that rather than using their authority to serve others “they made it an instrument of arrogance and manipulation,” to the point where “even prayer, for them, was in danger of no longer being a moment of encounter with the Lord, but an occasion to flaunt respectability and feigned piety, useful for attracting people’s attention and gaining approval.”
As a result, the pope said those leaders “behaved like corrupt people, feeding a social and religious system in which it was normal to take advantage of others behind their backs, especially the most defenseless, committing injustices and ensuring impunity for themselves.”
In contrast, Jesus “taught very different things about authority,” Pope Francis said.
“He spoke about it in terms of self-sacrifice and humble service, of maternal and paternal tenderness toward people, especially those most in need,” he said. “He invites those invested with
it to look at others from their position of power, not to humiliate them, but to lift them up, giving them hope and assistance.”
After reciting the Angelus, the pope prayed for the victims of a Nov. 9 volcanic eruption in Indonesia, which he visited in September. He also expressed his closeness to the people of Valencia, Spain, affected by severe floodings and mudslides.
The pope also recalled the situation in Mozambique, where 21 people have been killed in clashes with police following a disputed election in October. He prayed for the people of Mozambique, asking that “the present situation does not cause them to lose faith in the path of democracy, justice and peace.”
The day before the opening of COP 29, the U.N. climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, Pope Francis prayed that participating nations would “may make an effective contribution for the protection of our common home.”
The Pope’s Corner
Pope Francis gives his blessing to visitors in St. Peter’s Square gathered to pray the Angelus at the Vatican Nov. 10, 2024. (CNS photo/Pablo Esparza)
‘ ... As a church we cannot change all realities of the world ...’
– Continued from page 1 –
process, briefed the bishops on the synod’s October meeting. He said that more theological work needs to be done alongside efforts to develop a synodal missionary culture among Catholics.
“If it doesn’t reach the parishes, it hardly reaches the people of God,” he noted.
The bishops also decided to go ahead with drafting a new document on lay ecclesial ministry in the U.S., that would take into account what Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, chair of the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth, called “the experience of co-responsibility in the church, the evolving nature of parish and diocesan workplaces, and above all the call to greater synodality.”
They also approved a final draft of “The Order of Crowning an Image of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” Spanish texts for the Liturgy of the Hours, and the revised New American Bible for use in liturgy.
The conference also saw exemplars of American holiness promoted. The bishops affirmed two new causes brought to them for consultation: Benedictine Sister Annella Zervas of Moorhead, Minnesota, and Gertrude Agnes Barber, a laywoman from Erie, Pennsylvania.
Auxiliary Bishop Roy E. Campbell of Washington, president of the National Black Catholic Congress, who presented on the NBCC’s 2023 congress and resulting pastoral action plan, called on the bishops to promote the canonization causes of Black Catholics known collectively as the “Holy Six” – Venerable Mother Mary Lange; Venerable Father Augustus Tolton; Venerable Mother Henriette DeLille; Venerable Pierre Toussaint; Servant of God Julia Greeley; and Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman.
Bishop Stepan Sus, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church’s Pastoral and Migration Department, received a standing ovation from the bishops after sharing with them Ukraine’s plight under Russian occupation and thanking the U.S. church for its continued solidarity.
“As a church we cannot change all realities of the world,” he said. “But we can be next to those people who suffer and wipe their tears.”
Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, and board chair of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc., discussed the NEC’s next steps after the overwhelmingly positive feedback from the 2024 national Eucharistic pilgrimages and congress, saying the organization would support dioceses in their own events, “especially helping to form and send Eucharistic missionaries.”
The bishops also discussed how to mark the 10th anniversary of the release of “Laudato Si’,” Pope Francis’ encyclical on integral ecology. Ukrainian Catholic Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of Philadelphia, chair of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, suggested the encyclical could be “integrated into our core mission of evangelization,” and that bringing back fasting practices, such as regularly abstaining from eating meat on Fridays, “would be good for the soul and for the planet.”
The bishops also heard a presentation offered by the committees on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth; Pro-Life Activities; and Catholic Education in relation to implementing the Vatican declaration on human dignity, “Dignitas Infinita,” released in April.
The looming potential of President-elect Donald Trump implementing his campaign promise to enact mass deportations also shaped the bishops’ conversation. Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, encouraged his brother bishops and their priests to speak loudly and unified on the issue of migration, especially in light of recent rhetoric from public figures, saying the lay faithful have a “real hunger ... for lead-
ership from their priests and bishops alike on this issue.”
The conference also passed an operating budget for 2025 with no increase in diocesan assessment.
They elected bishops to several USCCB leadership positions. Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis was voted in as treasurer-elect and chairman-elect of the budget committee. Auxiliary Bishop Michael G. Woost of Cleveland was elected chairman-elect for the Committee on Divine Worship; Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre of Louisville, Kentucky, was elected chairman-elect of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development; and Bishop Edward J. Burns was elected as head of the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth; and Bishop Brendan J. Cahill of Victoria, Texas, was elected chairman-elect of the Committee on Migration. The prelates assume their positions at the conclusion of the bishops’ 2025 fall assembly.
The bishops also confirmed two bishops to the board of directors of Catholic Relief Services, the international relief agency of the Catholic Church in the U.S.: Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison, Wisconsin, and Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala of Washington.
The USCCB concluded its annual plenary assembly Nov. 14 in executive session, but released a statement of pastoral concern that day of “firm solidarity with our immigrant brothers and sisters who live and labor in these United States.” It stated, “Together, we must speak out on behalf of the ‘huddled masses yearning to breathe free’ and ask our government to provide fair and humane treatment for our beloved immigrant brothers and sisters.”
(Peter Jesserer Smith is the national news and features editor for OSV News.)
‘ ... we must speak out on behalf of the ‘huddled masses’ ...’
– Continued from page 1 –
deserves an immigration system that offers fair and generous pathways to full citizenship for immigrants living and working for many years within our borders.”
In particular, they said, “We need a system that provides permanent relief for childhood arrivals, helps families stay together, and welcomes refugees.”
With much of global migration driven by conflict and natural disaster, the bishops stressed the need to “develop an effective asylum system for those fleeing persecution.”
Under international human rights law – such as the U.N.’s 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, the latter of which the U.S. acceded to in 1968 – the fundamental principle of non-refoulement provides that refugees cannot be expelled to territories where substantial threats to life or freedom exist.
At the same time, the bishops called for “an immigration system that keeps our borders safe and secure, with enforcement policies that focus on those who present risks and dangers to society, particularly efforts to reduce gang activity, stem the flow of drugs, and end human trafficking.”
Catholic social teaching on immigration balances three interrelated principles – the right of persons to migrate in order to sustain their lives and those of their families, the right of a country to regulate its borders and control immigration, and a nation’s duty to regulate its borders with justice and mercy.
The bishops said the U.S. “should have an immigration
system that protects vulnerable migrants and their families, many of whom have already been victimized by criminal actors.”
“Together, we must speak out on behalf of the ‘huddled masses yearning to breathe free’ and ask our government to provide fair and humane treatment for our beloved immigrant brothers and sisters,” said the bishops, quoting a line from poet Emma Lazarus’ “The New Colossus,” the full text of which is inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty. “It is our hope, and our prayer, that all of us can work together to support a meaningful reform of our current immigration system.”
(Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @GinaJesseReina.)
The Border Wall is seen in the background as migrants from South and Central America look to surrender to immigration officials after crossing into the United States from Mexico in Ruby, Arizona, June 24, 2024. (OSV News photo/Adrees Latif, Reuters)
Holy Black Catholics: A glance at six African American candidates for canonization
By Michael R. heinlein (OSV News)
– We are greatly blessed by the contributions of Black Catholics in the church in the United States, particularly their illuminating legacy of holiness. The struggles and pain faced by the African American community are succinctly captured in the lives of these six Black Catholics now being considered for canonization. In them we can find the greatest of human characteristics, truly men and women for our times.
Pierre Toussaint, declared "Venerable" in 1996, is depicted in a stained-glass window in the mausoleum chapel at Holy Rood Cemetery in Westbury, N.Y. Born into slavery in modern-day Haiti, Toussaint (1766-1853) became a successful hairdresser in New York City. He later bought his freedom and generously supported many charitable endeavors of the local Catholic church. Toussaint is among the U.S. Black Catholic sainthood candidates who receive special recognition during National Black Catholic History Month, observed every November. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)
– Venerable Pierre Toussaint (1766–1853)
Born a slave in Haiti, Toussaint came to New York as property of a French Haitian family, who later freed him in 1807. Establishing himself as a successful hairdresser, Toussaint earned a sizable salary, which he put to use for the good of others, beginning with the purchase of his sister’s freedom as well as that of his future wife, Juliette. Together the Toussaints spent their lives in service to the poor and needy. When urged to retire and enjoy his remaining years, Toussaint is quoted as saying, “I have enough for myself, but if I stop working, I have not enough for others.”
Toussaint’s great charity and works of mercy were fueled by an abiding faith. A daily Mass attendee for more than 60 years, Toussaint lived as he worshiped. Not embittered by the hardships he endured because of his race and his Catholic faith, the model layman gave of himself to others. Toussaint and his wife adopted his niece, took in orphans and funded orphanages, operated a credit bureau, established hostels for priests and refugees, and generously supported the church and other institutions. Toussaint attended to the sick and suffering, too, even strangers whom he helped nurse to health.
Toussaint died June 30, 1853. In 1990, his remains were moved to a niche in the bishop’s crypt at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City – a rather poetic postscript to the life of a man whose race once prohibited him from entering the city’s Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral. He was declared venerable in 1996.
– Venerable Mother Henriette Delille (1812–1862)
Born out of wedlock to a Frenchman and a free woman of color, Henriette Delille spent all her life in and around New Orleans’ French Quarter. A cultured young woman of high society, Delille was expected, like her mother and the women of her family, to form a liaison relationship with an eligible white man. After receiving the sacrament of confirmation, however, Delille clearly became a woman committed to the Lord. Her guiding motto, written in a prayer book, captures what defined her heart and spurred her vocation: “I believe in God. I hope in God. I love. I want to live and die for God.”
Prevailing racist attitudes, even within the church, made Delille’s pursuit of a religious vocation painful and difficult, and two congregations denied her admittance. Undeterred by the rejection, Delille persevered to establish a religious congregation herself in 1836. Using inheritance from her mother, Delille began what became known as the Sisters of the Holy Family with the aim to serve the poor, sick and elderly, and to teach the faith to both slave and free children.
Delille’s generosity and love was known to everyone who knew her. She was a mother to all she encountered, and sacramental records show she even served as godmother and marriage witness to many. She died Nov. 16, 1862, at age 49. An obituary summed up her calling: “For the love of Jesus Christ she had become the humble and devout servant of the slaves.”
Delille’s cause for canonization opened in 1988, and she was declared venerable in 2010.
– Venerable Father Augustus Tolton (1854–1897)
Augustus Tolton, born the son of slaves on April 1, 1854, was the first Black individual from the United States to be ordained a priest. But his path to priesthood was not easy.
After a harrowing escape from their Missouri home, Tolton’s family settled in freedom in Quincy, Illinois, where the pastor accepted him into the parish school despite much opposition from parishioners. Later, as Tolton began to pursue a priestly vocation, seminaries across the United States rejected his applications out of prejudice.
With heroic determination, Tolton pressed on toward his calling. He was accepted to a seminary in Rome and was ordained there in 1886. Though Tolton expected to serve as a missionary in Africa, he soon found out that he was destined for service back in the United States. “America has been called the most enlightened nation; we will see if it deserves that honor,” said Cardinal Giovanni Simeoni, prefect of the Holy See’s Congregation for Propagation of the Faith, which oversaw Tolton’s seminary. “If America has never seen a black priest, it has to see one now.”
Father Augustine Tolton, also known as Augustus, is pictured in a photo from an undated portrait card. Born into slavery in Missouri, he was ordained a priest April 24, 1886. He served as pastor at St. Joseph Church in Quincy, Ill., and later established St. Monica's Church in Chicago. (CNS photo/courtesy of Archdiocese of Chicago Archives and Records Center)
Upon his return to Quincy, Father Tolton was met with racial prejudice by laity and clergy alike. An authority even told him not to allow white people to attend his parish. A priest of great humility and obedience, Tolton was invited to minister in Chicago in 1889, and left Quincy thinking he had been a failure there.
founded the Sisters of the Holy Family in New Orleans in 1842, is depicted in a
by Haitian artist Ul-
In Chicago, Tolton was indefatigable in his efforts to serve a growing Black Catholic community and established St. Monica Church for Black Catholics. Returning from a retreat by train, Tolton collapsed on a Chicago street amid record heat and died July 9, 1897, at the young age of forty-three, and his body was returned to Quincy for burial. Tolton’s cause for canonization was opened in 2010, and he was declared venerable in 2019.
– Venerable Mother Mary Lange (c. 1784–1882)
Few details are known about the early life of Elizabeth Lange. Likely born in Santiago de Cuba, she emigrated to the United States with a heart ready for service. Known to be of African descent, Lange once described herself as “French to my soul.”
God’s providence eventually led Lange to Baltimore, where there was a sizable group of French-speaking Catholics who fled Haiti at the time of their revolution. At that time, no free education existed for Black children in Maryland. There, Lange operated a free school out of her home. Financial difficulties eventually
A painting depicts Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, founder of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first Catholic order of African American nuns, who work largely in the Baltimore area. Vatican officials are moving ahead with Mother Lange's sainthood cause, Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori said Dec. 5, 2019, in Rome. (CNS photo/courtesy of the Catholic Review)
The Diocese of Little Rock, Ark., submitted formal documentation from a fact-finding mission regarding an alleged miracle, a healing through the intercession of Mother Henriette of a 19-yearold Arkansas college student in 2008. (CNS photo/courtesy Sisters of the Holy Family) – Continued on page 8 –
Venerable Henriette Delille, who
painting
rick Jean Pierre.
This image of Julia Greeley, a former slave who lived in Colorado, was commissioned by the Archdiocese of Denver by iconographer Vivian Imbruglia. During their fall general assembly Nov. 14-16, 2016 in Baltimore, the U.S. bishops in a voice vote approved Greeley's sainthood cause moving forward. (CNS photo/ iconographer Vivian Imbruglia, courtesy Archdiocese of Denver)
– Continued from page 7 –
forced its closure.
Lange was drawn into further teaching by Sulpician Father James Joubert, who also encouraged her and a few companions to consecrate their lives and work to God as professed religious women. With Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange as the first superior, the Oblate Sisters of Providence were established in 1829 – the first successful congregation for Black women in the United States. With Lange’s pioneering vision and holy example, the Oblate sisters persevered through great difficulties and offered their lives in service to all in need – especially to pupils, orphans, widows, the sick and those in spiritual need.
With a humble heart, Lange accepted whatever tasks lay before her. In her final years she patiently endured many hardships. Yet, Lange consistently persevered trusting in God’s provident hand. She died Feb. 3, 1882, and her cause for canonization formally was opened in 1991.
– Servant of God Julia Greeley (c. 1840–1918)
Born into slavery in Hannibal, Missouri, Julia Greeley gained her freedom after the Emancipation Proclamation. Her years as a slave left a permanent mark: a drooping eye, received as the result of a beating. After moving to Colorado in 1879, Greeley fell in love with the Catholic faith. She converted the following year and immediately immersed herself in the devotional and sacramental life of the church. She attended daily Mass, was devout and pious, and took up intense fasting. When questioned about regularly eating no breakfast, Greeley would respond, “My Communion is my breakfast.”
Greeley found great joy in her love for the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which she
saw as the source for her many charitable and service-oriented ministries. She was known to spread the devotion, even using it as a tool to evangelize Denver’s firemen. From her heart flowed the love of Christ’s heart.
Greeley took on a life of poverty, living in union with the poor of Denver. Taking on odd jobs like cooking and cleaning, she used her meager salary to finance a ministry to the poor while suffering from painful arthritis. She could not write, read or count, but wearing her trademark floppy hat Greeley could show Christ’s love. She dragged a red wagon filled with goods to distribute to the poor, and, at times, she even begged for them. Many of those she helped were among the nearly 1,000 mourners who attended the funeral after her death on June 7, 1918. Her canonization cause was opened in 2016.
– Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman (1937–1990)
Born in Mississippi on Dec. 29, 1937, Bertha Bowman converted to Catholicism at the age of nine. Missionary priests and sisters began a Catholic school in her hometown to provide a better education for Black children, and it did not discriminate. The Gospel-filled joyfulness of those missionaries attracted the young Bowman to the faith. This same joyfulness became a hallmark trait of hers later on. Bowman was so attracted to their way of life that at fifteen she went on a hunger strike to get her parents’ permission to enter as an aspirant with her teachers’ order, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Life in the convent did not protect her from racial prejudice, but she won people over with her joyful, outgoing demeanor and love for Christ and the church. The daughter of a doctor and a teacher, Sister Thea, her name given upon taking religious vows, was intellectually gifted. She earned a doctorate in English at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and subsequently served in a variety of teaching roles.
After she, as an only child, returned home to take care of her parents in 1978, Sister Thea served as director for intercultural affairs in the Diocese of Jackson. She dedicated herself to overcoming divisions in the church and society in the wake of the Second Vatican Council and the racial strife of the 1960s. As a writer, teacher, musician and evangelist, Sister Thea preached the Gospel to clergy and laity alike, promoting ecclesial and cultural harmony and reconciliation as a tireless spokeswoman for the Black Catholic experience. Pledging to “live until I die,” Sister Thea remained wholeheartedly committed to her ministry while battling breast cancer for several years. She died March 30, 1990, and her cause for canonization was opened in 2018.
(Michael R. Heinlein is editor of “Black Catholics on the Road to Sainthood” and author of “Glorifying Christ: The Life of Cardinal Francis E. George, OMI.”)
Pastoral Assignments
Rev. Vijay Madanu, SVD, appointed Administrator of Holy Ghost Parish in Jackson, effective Dec. 1, 2024.
Rev. Leon Ngandu, SVD, appointed Administrator of Holy Family Parish in Jackson, effective Dec. 1, 2024. Bishop of Jackson
CANTON – Holy Child Jesus school students sing with Sister Thea Bowman. (Photos courtesy archives)
Bishop Gerow leaves legacy – a century and beyond
Bishop Richard Oliver Gerow reviews materials in the original archives vault in Natchez with Msgr. Daniel O’Beirne circa 1940. Bishop Gerow was the seventh bishop of the diocese, serving from 1924-1966, while Msgr. O’Beirne was diocesan chancellor from 1927-41. (Photo from archives)
FROM THE ARCHIVES
By Mary WoodWard
This week we are taking a short break from Bishop Janssens (fourth bishop) to honor our seventh bishop, Richard Oliver Gerow on the 100th anniversary of his consecration and coming to our diocese. Since this is an article series from the archives, and Bishop Gerow organized our diocesan archive, it would be sacrilege if I let this anniversary pass by without due recognition.
Bishop Gerow was consecrated on Oct. 15, 1924, in the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mobile. He grew up in the shadows of the cathedral and was baptized and confirmed there. Bishop Edward Allen of Mobile was the principal consecrator and the bishop whom Rev. Gerow has served under for several years.
After the grand liturgy, the young bishop spent a few weeks tying up some loose ends in his hometown, then headed for his new diocese on Nov. 11, by way of New Orleans. Following a visit with Archbishop John Shaw, Gerow, the Archbishop, and the delegation from Mobile boarded a special midnight train to his new diocese.
The Illinois Central Sleeper arrived in Brookhaven a little before 5 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 12. The new bishop was met by a delegation from St. Francis, the local parish, where he celebrated his first Mass in the diocese. A transfer train from Natchez arrived at 8 a.m. in Brookhaven carrying a large delegation from the See City. Bishop Gerow and his entourage boarded the train and arrived in Natchez at 10 a.m. to a warm welcome from the town.
So that he might travel around the entire diocese and see all its parishes and clergy, Bishop Gerow appointed Msgr. Prendergast as vicar general and entrusted most of the details of church business to him until Christmas. All of this is documented in the first few pages of Bishop Gerow’s monumental diary described below.
To be honest we have one of the most complete archives of Mississippi history in the state, albeit a
history through the unique lens of the development of the Catholic Church in the region. The collection is a national treasure. Bishop Gerow is the reason for this.
As a meticulous historian who knew the importance of maintaining proper records and information, Bishop Gerow, assisted by various chancellors along the way, built the comprehensive collection we have in the vault over a period of 42 years.
He kept a detailed diary, as did several of his predecessors, of the daily events in the life of the church as he lived them. His diary is several thousand pages typed up neatly and bound in volumes. His last entry details his retirement in 1966.
He also oversaw the indexing of the six previous bishops’ papers and correspondence along with all the official acts of the office of bishop and the diocesan church.
An avid photographer, he photographed churches and diocesan structures while he travelled throughout the entire state. A small fraction of these is part of our collection in the
Mississippi Digital Library. Visit the collection at https://msdiglib.org/cdj.
Bishop Gerow moved the bishop’s residence and office to Jackson from Natchez and brought most of the archive collection with him. The archives’ vault was built into the ground floor of the diocesan chancery building during its construction in 1947. Our archive collection has documents dating back to the late 1700s with some books dating back farther than that.
Today, the vault is stacked to the ceiling and diocesan records since 1966 are slowly being indexed for future research. There is a great need for space and the vision is to one day have a building for the diocesan archives that can serve as a research center and small museum for educational purposes.
Recently, we have had to close the collection to any research due to a moisture issue that caused some archive collection-specific mold; plus, some of our microfilm rolls of older sacramental records have contracted the dreaded vinegar disease and have been isolated to keep it from spreading to other rolls.
Right now, we manage our treasure the best we can within the allotted space. And we hope one day to be able to better share that treasure in a more appropriate environment.
Until then, I hope you will continue to appreciate the history we share in the space provided in this column.
(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson.)
Sister Thea Bowman Statue Dedication
JACKSON – Bishop Joseph Kopacz will bless the life-sized bronze statue of Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman, FSPA, on Saturday, Dec. 21, at 11 a.m. at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle in downtown Jackson. All are invited to attend. Pictured above is a preliminary clay model of the statue. (Photo by August Taconi)
NATION
WASHINGTON (OSV News) – Catholic Mobilizing Network, a group that advocates for the abolition of capital punishment in line with Catholic teaching, issued a statement Nov. 6 urging President Joe Biden to take action on the practice during the remainder of his presidency while 40 lives on death row “hang in the balance.” Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, CMN’s executive director, noted in a statement that Biden became the first U.S. president in 2020 to have campaigned on an openly anti-death penalty platform. After Biden was elected, his administration declared a moratorium on federal executions, but some activists say he should have gone further to end the practice. Vaillancourt Murphy argued the nation’s second Catholic president should follow through with concrete action in the post-election lame-duck period before President-elect Donald Trump, who has sought to expand the uses of capital punishment, returns to the White House. “As faithful anti-death penalty advocates, we know lives hang in the balance,” Vaillancourt Murphy said. She said CMN would “redouble its efforts to urge President Biden to commute the sentences of all 40 men currently on federal death row before he leaves office in January.” The group invited Catholics to sign a petition, hosted at catholicsmobilizing.org, calling on Biden to do so.
WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ $880 million abuse claims settlement, announced Oct. 16, brings the total payouts of U.S. Catholic dioceses for abuse claims since 2004 to more than $5 billion – and possibly more than $6 billion –OSV News has found. An aggregated total from two decades of reports issued by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops shows the nation’s dioceses and eparchies paid some $4.384 billion to settle claims between 2004 and 2023. Data for fiscal year 2024 is still pending; however, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ $880 million settlement and a $323 million settlement announced Sept. 26 by the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, account for $1.2 billion within the span of less than a month. Those two settlements, plus the USCCB total for 2004-2023, add up to $5.59 billion. The USCCB 2004-2023 total does not appear to include a $660 million settlement announced in 2007 by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles which, along with the Oct. 16 settlement, brings that archdiocese’s total to at least $1.54 billion in abuse-related costs over the past two decades. An archdiocesan official told OSV News the archdiocese was looking into how that
settlement data was reported. The overall national total of diocesan settlement payouts for the past two decades could exceed $6.24 billion, if the USCCB data does not already include the 2007 Archdiocese of Los Angeles payout. Data from the USCCB’s reports does not include any settlements that dioceses reached with victims prior to 2004.
VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – A local Italian group launched an online petition urging Pope Francis, the Vatican and others to stop the “fir tree-icide” of cutting down a 200-year-old red pine to decorate St. Peter’s Square for Christmas. The Bears and Others Association, a land and wildlife conservancy group located in the northern Italian province of Trento, launched the petition on change.org Oct. 13. It had gathered more than 49,800 signatories by midday Nov. 15. Citing the pope’s teachings on caring for creation, the group said, “It is necessary to give clear and concise signals” to change people’s attitudes toward respecting nature, especially given the rapidly evolving climate change. The Christmas tree “is a pagan tradition and has nothing to do with the birth of Christ,” the petition said. Renato Girardi, mayor of Ledro, told the Italian state television network, RAI, that the donated tree comes from a certified sustainable working forest that follows strict forest management practices, which include thinning out towering, older trees to open up the canopy and facilitate the growth of multiple younger trees below. Renato Girardi, mayor of Ledro, said the tree was actually 60 years old, according to Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian bishops’ conference, Nov. 19.
WORLD
MEXICO CITY (OSV News) – The Mexican bishops’ conference expressed deep concern over an initiative in the Mexico City assembly “which seeks to completely eliminate legal protection for life in gestation” and could lead to the further removal of limits on abortion across the country. “This initiative, which seeks the total decriminalization of abortion in Mexico City, and which will probably be extended to other states in the Republic, would not only eliminate the current limit of twelve weeks of gestation, but would also open the door to the termination of pregnancy at any time,” the bishops’ said in a Nov. 6 statement signed by the conference president, Archbishop Rogelio Cabrera López of Monterrey, and its general secretary, Bishop Ramón Castro Castro of Cuernavaca. “As pastors, we cannot remain silent in the face of a measure that, under the pretext of defending rights, in reality ignores the most fundamental human right: ‘the right to life from conception to natural death,’ and abandons women to decisions that can dramatically affect their lives.” A pair of commissions in the Mexico City assembly voted Nov. 4 to eliminate abortion from the criminal code, along with any limits on how late an abortion could occur during pregnancy. Punishments of three to six months in prison or 100 to 300 days of community service for women who abort were also scrapped.
VIENNA (OSV News) – With new reports of human rights organizations in Europe, it is clear that anti-Christian discrimination is a hot-button issue in the old continent, and on the rise. The Vienna-based Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe revealed widespread intolerance and discrimination against Christians in Europe in its Nov. 15 report, published in cooperation with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, or OSCE, and its Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. OIDAC Europe identified 2,444 anti-Christian hate crimes which were documented by police and civil society in 35 European countries in 2023, including 232 personal attacks on Christians, such as harassment, threats and physical violence. These figures include data requested from governments, which found 1,230 anti-Christian hate crimes recorded by 10 European governments in 2023, up from 1,029 recorded by governments in 2022. While only 10 European governments submitted data on anti-Christian hate crimes in 2023, civil society reported incidents from 26 European countries. The report was published ahead of Nov. 16 observance of International Day for Tolerance, which was established in 1996 by the United Nations General Assembly.
The Christmas tree is lighted in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Dec. 9, 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)
Federal judge strikes down Biden ‘Keeping Families Together’ program
By Kate Scanlon (OSV News)
– A federal judge in Texas on Nov. 7 struck down a Biden administration program to protect from deportation and provide a path to U.S. citizenship for hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants living in the country who are married to U.S. citizens.
The program, known as “Keeping Families Together,” which sought to allow undocumented spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens to apply for a green card without first having to leave the country, was challenged by 16 Republican-led states that filed a lawsuit after applications were made available in August. At that time, a judge put the program on hold.
“Sadly, this court decision will likely end the program, as Trump will terminate it upon taking office,” J. Kevin Appleby, senior fellow for policy at the Center for Migration Studies of New York and the former director of migration policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told OSV News.
“Instead, his administration will start targeting the exact same families for deportation, separating U.S. citizen children from their parents,” Appleby said. “Hopefully, Catholic advocates, including the U.S. bishops, will not pull their punches in opposing Trump’s mass deportation and anti-asylum plans. History will mark how the church in the U.S. defends the rights of migrants in the years ahead.”
Under the terms of the program, applicants must have resided in the U.S. for 10 or more years and be legally married to a U.S. citizen. Those approved by the Department of Homeland Security would have been permitted to remain in the U.S. for a three-year period to apply for permanent residency.
In June, the White House had said the program would benefit “approximately half a million spouses of U.S. citizens, and approximately 50,000 noncitizen children under the age of 21 whose parent is married to a U.S. citizen.”
But Judge J. Campbell Barker of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, who previously temporarily blocked the program, struck it down Nov. 7, arguing the administration exceeded its authority in creating the program.
The program would have been unlikely to remain in place once President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.
Andrew Bailey, the attorney general of Missouri, one of the states that joined the lawsuit challenging the program, said in a post on X (formerly Twitter), “The court just granted our request to throw out the Biden-Harris administration’s illegal parolein-place program allowing illegal aliens to remain in our country after they have crossed the border. A huge win for the rule of law.”
FWD.us, an immigration and criminal justice reform advocacy group, said in a post on X it is “deeply disappointed” by the ruling, arguing the program represented “a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of American families in desperate need of protection from being separated by our failed immigration system.”
Previously, Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, who serves as chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, praised the Biden administration rule at the time. He noted a similar program had been available to military service members and
their families for several years.
In a June 18 statement, Bishop Seitz said, “We’ve seen the positive impacts such programs can have, not only for beneficiaries themselves but for the families, employers, and communities that rely on them,” adding that the new program was “sure to yield similar benefits.”
The Catholic Church’s magisterium outlines the church’s moral parameters on immigration. The Catechism of the Catholic Church instructs, “The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin.”
At the same time, the church has also made clear human laws are also subject to divine limits. St. John Paul II’s 1993 encyclical “Veritatis Splendor” (“Splendor of Truth”) and 1995 encyclical “Evangelium Vitae” (“The Gospel of Life”) -- both quote the Second Vatican Council’s teaching in “Gaudium et Spes,” the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, which names “deportation” among various specific acts “offensive to human dignity” that “are a disgrace, and so long as they infect human civilization they contaminate those who inflict them more than those who suffer injustice, and they are a negation of the honor due to the Creator.”
Back in June, Bishop Seitz emphasized that “legislators have a moral and patriotic duty to improve our legal immigration system, including the opportunities available for family reunification and preservation.”
“A society is only as strong as its families, and family unity is a fundamental right,” he said. “For the good of the country, Congress must find a way to overcome partisan divisions and enact immigration reform that includes an earned legalization program for longtime undocumented residents.”
(Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X (formerly known as Twitter) @kgscanlon.)
A migrant from Chiapas, Mexico, looks through his family’s immigration paperwork at Casa Alitas in Tucson, Ariz., March 15, 2024. A federal judge in Texas Nov. 7 struck down a Biden administration program that gave a pathway to legalization and citizenship for certain undocumented spouses and children of U.S. citizens. (OSV News photo/Rebecca Noble, Reuters)
Let joy abound: In all things give thanks
FROM THE HERMITAGE
By sister alies therese
For many the outcome of the election is a disaster … for others a great boon. If you are a political geek (like me) you will have paid attention to speeches, debates and anything else that would show the how, when, where’s of it all. ‘Do no harm’ seems a requisite for the move forward.
You know there is nothing worse than losing (for the losers) and nothing more joyful and puffing up than winning (for the winners). There are so many in between who didn’t even participate and for them it is ho-hum, as usual, who cares? “The humiliation of living somewhere between knee socks and support hose served as another reminder that the secrets I try hardest to conceal are the one most often exposed.” (Tina Krause, Embarrassing Moments, 2008). We will soon discover the ‘secrets’ and be exposed to what has been ‘concealed’. Well, who cares are the most vulnerable and those with no sense of humor. Don’t get me wrong … elections matter and there’s nothing funny about them … but in the outcomes we might need a deep breath or two.
“Humor is a divine quality, and God has the greatest sense of humor of all. He must have otherwise He wouldn’t have made so many politicians.” (MLK, Jr.) You have to wonder what would bring out a certain joy (maybe that it’s over?) in the public (especially the losers). What is the answer to a miserable look forward when one was so sure of another outcome? Are you kidding me is the response of some, and don’t be a sore loser that of the others.
One thing that struck me as funny was how there was very little or no ‘cheating’. Did you notice that? Is politics just a mugs game or is governing a sacred duty? Who are the leaders we elect?
“Asked about his position on whiskey, a Congressman replied:” ‘if you mean the demon drink that poisons the mind, pollutes the body, desecrates family life, and inflames sinners, then I’m against it. But, if you mean the elixir of Christmas cheer, the shield against winter chill, the taxable potion that puts needed funds into public coffers to comfort little crippled children, then I’m for it. This is my position, and I will not compromise!” (Rev. Karl Kraft, New Jersey,1999)
We need a bit of therapy just now … winners and losers both to bring back some sense of a common good. Is there such a thing? I think there is and no matter where one fell, winner or loser, striving to make sure the most vulnerable are at the heart is critical. Resentment festers. “Laughter is God’s medicine; the most beautiful therapy God ever gave humanity.” (anon)
Regular life, just our day to day causes us to consider how much we need heart therapy. “The washing machine overflows, your toddler comes down with the chicken pox, the septic system quits, and you still have casserole to prepare and tables to decorate for the big family reunion you promised to host in your home the next day. It is tough to smile at times like these. Most of us would prefer to stay in bed, pull the sheets over our head, and refuse to budge until things get better. Yet when life’s irritants bug us more than a swam of pesky mosquitoes and troubles spread faster than cold germs, laugher is what we need the most …
humor is heart therapy.” (Tina Krause, 2008) What that therapy looks like will vary but I think it matters who we think about and who we pray for. Who needs our laugh?
As we move toward Thanksgiving Day and for some that dreadful dinner where politics, religion and other hot button issues are either exaggerated or ignored, let’s try to put things in perspective.
“A Sunday school teacher asked her class about the meaning of Easter. A little boy raised his hand and said, ‘that’s when we shoot off firecrackers and celebrate our freedom!’ A little girl said, ‘no that’s when we eat the turkey and give thanks.’ ‘I know,’ a third youngster exclaimed, ‘that’s when Jesus comes out of the tomb … but if He sees his shadow, He goes back in.’“ (Father Harry Winter, OMI, 1999)
Life might just be a little bit like that for a while. We will have many opportunities to lighten up the situation as well as delve deeply into the pros and cons as we move into the holidays. So, I wish you all the opportunity of giving thanks for all things as Paul teaches and to be grateful for your pastor!
“A new pastor, eager to make sure the church’s employees would like him, called them together shortly before Thanksgiving Day approached and told them that each of them would receive a turkey. ‘In fact,’ he said, ‘as long as I’m around you will always have a turkey.’ “ (Msgr. Charles Dollen, The Priest, 1999) Blessings.
(Sister alies therese is a canonically vowed hermit with days formed around prayer and writing.)
The ‘month of the dead’ brings its own strange refreshment
MORE THAN WORDS
By Bishop roBert reed
Those of us who have experienced the death of a loved one, even if we believe that she or he has gone to a better place, still find ourselves struggling with the parting. It’s hard to let go. Sometimes it’s made a little easier if we have been present for someone’s last days, and at the moment of their death, when we experience the whole strange (and often quite beautiful) mystery of living and dying being played out before our very eyes.
Still, parting is, as Shakespeare wrote, “such sweet sorrow.”
In November, death seems uniquely before us Catholics. The month begins with the great memorial of our saints, followed the next day by the commemoration of all who have passed from this life before us.
And then the nights grow longer, and the winds come. The familiar and warm rustle of leaves diminishes and is replaced with the dry-bones clickety-click of bare branches. It all helps us to remember, and keenly, that “we have no lasting city” (Heb 13:14). At least not one here, on earth.
Thanks be to God that we Christians know physical death is not an end to our lives, but a portal to what St. Paul calls “the city that is yet to come.”
The Gospels are an invitation to us to believe fully in the glory and power of God; to hand ourselves over in all things; to put our doubts and fears themselves to death!
Think of the emotion expressed in the 11th chapter of the Gospel of John, when Lazarus, Jesus’ close friend, has died. His sisters are devastated, and their heartache moves the Lord to tears. Jesus reaches into the situation. He touches the air all around it – a word through the Word – and transforms it. Death to life. The Messiah has revealed the glory and power of God, for whom all things are possible.
The focus of our good prayer this month is not directly on us, but on those who have gone before – our ancestors of
genetic and spiritual oneness. It is a venerable tradition for us, as people of faith, to remember those whom we have had to let go: grandparents, parents, siblings, relatives and friends, and those whom we have come to know, love and pray with, within the great “cloud of witnesses.”
Time can soften our griefs, but our attachments remain, until we too must be mourned and then released.
And yet – never forget this! – we who have been baptized into Christ’s death live with a substantial hope; one that does not disappoint. As the book of Wisdom teaches, our hope is “full of immortality” (Wis 3:4).
That hope helps us to wonder at the depths of pain, grief and confusion that death can bring us to, until we begin to perceive the mysterious “rest of the story.” That we are standing and grieving and growing and necessarily carrying on with our lives, while encountering a place of transition, a sacred passage – a gate through which we know with certitude we too must pass – into what Christ Jesus proved to us through his resurrection: the reality of eternal life.
“Baptized into his death … we were buried therefore with him,” St. Paul preached to the Romans (Rom 6: 3-4), “so that as Christ was raised from the dead … we too might walk in the newness of life.”
That’s a refreshing concept, isn’t it? “The newness of life” encourages us to embrace all seasons of our time here and to open our minds, hearts and souls to Christ in everything that comes to us, because in all of it – the joyful and the painful and the uncertain – a kind of newness of life is revealed.
Things change; they do not end. And isn’t that a wonderful thing to contemplate, as we approach the close of another liturgical year, and look forward to the deep expectation of Advent?
(Bishop Robert P. Reed is an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston, pastor of St. Patrick and Sacred Heart parishes in Watertown, Massachusetts, and president of the CatholicTV Network. He is chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Communications.)
Sainthood cause to open for beloved Irish actress turned nun, parish priest confirms
By Michael Kelly
DUBLIN (OSV News) – The sainthood cause of an Irish nun killed in an earthquake in Ecuador in 2016 is to open early next year, it has been revealed.
Derry-born Sister Clare Crockett was a promising actress with little interest in religion when she went on a Holy Week retreat in Spain in 2000 that changed her life.
The then 18-year-old self-confessed “wild child” felt a profound call to religious life, and entered the convent of the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother.
Following her death in the 2016 Ecuador earthquake, stories soon began to spread of her holiness of life and devoted pastoral service. Her grave in her native Derry soon became a place of pilgrimage, and devotion to her intercession has grown. She has been credited with bringing many young people back to the practice of their Catholic faith.
Father Gerard Mongan, parish priest of her native parish of St. Columba’s in Derry’s working-class Bogside neighborhood, told OSV News that “news of the opening of Sister Clare’s cause for canonization has been received with great joy and anticipation in Derry.”
Father Mongan confirmed to OSV News that the cause for Sister Clare will open in Madrid Jan. 12. From this point she will be declared a servant of God and the intensive scrutiny of her life and ministry will continue with both a postulator and vice postulator appointed to present the case to the Vatican.
Father Mongan said he hopes that the news will help devotion to Sister Clare to spread far and wide. “She already has a huge following of devotees who are inspired by her remarkable conversion story.
“The people of Derry and beyond are overwhelmed by the possibility that one day, they will have their own saint. In particular, she has been an inspiration to many young people who have been inspired by her life, especially her infectious joy.
“She has already brought countless people back to the practice of their faith. We all look forward to the official opening of her cause when she will become (a) servant of God. Exciting times ahead!” Father Mongan said.
Sister Clare was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, in 1982 at the height of the sectarian conflict known as The Troubles, in which over 3,000 people lost their lives.
Her home town is featured in the popular comedy series “Derry Girls,” which follows the antics of teenagers in the city.
Sister Clare Crockett, a member of the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother, is pictured in a 2011 photo. A sainthood cause for he Irish sister, who was killed in Ecuador during an 2016 earthquake, is to be opened in early 2025. (OSV News photo/courtesy Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother)
Shortly after her death her religious congregation, the Home of the Mother, released a film charting her life. “All of Nothing” documents the last 15 years of her life and includes interviews with her family, childhood friends and the sisters from the Home of the Mother order. The film now has more than 2.5 million views on YouTube.
In 2020, the order published the first full-length biography of the religious sister.
“Sister Clare Crockett: Alone with Christ Alone” is written by Sister Kristen Gardner, who was also responsible for the documentary.
The book is based on Sister Clare’s notebooks of spiritual writings, discovered after her death. In one passage she recalls the experience that brought her to rediscover her faith on Good Friday in 2000.
“I do not know how to explain exactly what happened. I did not see the choirs of angels or a white dove come down from the ceiling and descend on me, but I had the certainty that the Lord was on the Cross, for me,” she recalled.
“And along with that conviction, I felt a great sorrow, similar to what I had experienced when I was little and prayed the Stations of the Cross. When I returned to my pew, I already had imprinted in me something that was not there before. I had to do something for him Who had given his life for me,” she wrote.
It was the start of a journey of conversion and healing that led to her – despite protests from her family and acting manager – joining the sisters and taking her first vows in 2006.
Her first assignment was in the community at Belmonte, in Cuenca, Spain, in a residence for girls that come from families in difficulty. “Her zeal for souls, especially those of the youth, was immense,” the sisters wrote in her online biography.
Soon after she was sent to the new community that was about to be opened in Jacksonville, Florida, in October 2006. The sisters began pastoral work at Assumption Parish and School.
Father Frederick Parke, who died Oct. 18, 2021, remembered Sister Clare as one beaming with enthusiasm and joy.
“The children picked up on the enthusiasm that she had for the Eucharist. She overflowed with enthusiasm for the Lord. Once you had been with her, you knew you had to pick up that same enthusiasm. It was so catchy.”
Michael Kelly writes for OSV News from Dublin, Ireland.
The Diocese of Jackson has launched a third-party reporting system that will enable all diocesan employees, volunteers and parishioners to anonymously (or named if preferred) make reports. Examples of this activity include fraud, misconduct, safety violations, harassment or substance abuse occurring at a Catholic parish, Catholic school or at the diocesan level. The system is operated by Lighthouse Services.
To make a report visit www.lighthouse-services.com/ jacksondiocese or call 888-830-0004 (English) or 800-2161288 (Spanish).
The Association of Priests of the Dioceses of Jackson and Biloxi provide a small pension to our retired priests. As you consider your estate plans, please remember these faithful servants by making a donation or leaving a bequest to the Association of Priests. Our parish priests dedicate their lives to caring for us, their flocks. Let us now care for them in their retirement. Donations can be made payable to the Association of Priests and can be mailed to: Diocese of Jackson, P.O. Box 22723, Jackson, MS 39225-2723
Around the diocese
– Annunciation sixth graders celebrated All Saint’s Day Mass on Friday, Nov. 1 with Bishop Joseph Kopacz by dressing up as their chosen saint. After Mass, students from other grades met the “Saints” and learned about their extraordinary lives.
– The St. Joseph Catholic School Bruin News Now crew film the Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, edition of the award-winning, student-produced newscast on location at Independence Square in Philadelphia. St. Joe students were in Philadelphia to attend the Journalism Education Association/National Scholastic Press Association fall high school journalism convention. The convention took place Thursday, Nov. 7, through Sunday, Nov. 10. Pictured here are news anchor Thierry Freeman, left, a junior; camera operator Davis Hammond, a sophomore; and Jason Buckley, left, a sophomore. (Photo by Terry Cassreino)
MADISON
MADISON – St. Joseph performed “Antigone,” inspired by a play written by Sophocles and directed by Leslie Ann Harkins on Nov. 9. Pictured: Valeria Valdez, Emma Williams, Talia Ramos, Turner Brown, Zaniah Purvis (Antigone), Atticus Gomez, Molly Moody, and others. (Photo by Tereza Ma)
MERIDIAN – St. Patrick School’s kindergarten class took part in their All Saints Day Mass by dressing up and singing the Litany of the Saints. Pictured with the class are from left, Elizabeth McLaren, kindergarten assistant, Rob Calcote, principal, Father Augustine Palimattam and kindergarten teacher, Stacye Stevens. Not shown is Cassy Klutz, kindergarten religion teacher. (Photo by Helen Reynolds)
COLUMBUS
(Photo by Jacque Hince)
MISSISSIPPI CATHOLIC NOVEMBER 22, 2024
Around the diocese
CLARKSDALE – Fifth and sixth grade students made games for “Math and Science Night” that enhanced learning and fun for all ages. (Photo by Mary Evelyn Stonestreet)
VICKSBURG – Election Day was a success at St. Francis Xavier/Vicksburg Catholic School. Pictured: Poll workers –Oliver Hesselberg and John Matthews, with voter – Michaela Sanchez. (Photo courtesy of school)
JACKSON – St. Richard first graders dressed up as a saint of their choice for All Saints Day on Friday, Nov. 1. At school Mass, the students led the procession dressed as their chosen saint. After Mass, the students were introduced as their saint, and families were then welcomed over to school, where the students were able to share a few facts about their saint. Pictured (l-r) front to back: Federico Diaz, Jonah Grant, Laz Dillon, Tesni Jackson, Eva Ehrgott, Marilee Nelson, Thomas Morisani, Winn Nicholas, Malia Owens and Thea Saucier. (Photo by Celeste Saucier)
Preparing your heart and home in Advent
By Woodeene Koenig-BricKer
(OSV
News)
– “When we let the world know that there is more to the holiday than presents and decorations, we fulfill our mission as Christians to evangelize the world.”
Imagine expecting a new baby. For months, you prepare to welcome this addition, but in the last month, the preparations really step up. You make sure that the crib is clean, the diapers are in place, the car seat is installed, and family and friends are ready to meet the new baby.
That sense of joyful preparation combined with anticipation is the attitude we bring to Advent as we await the arrival of Christ the Lord. Christmas is the high point, but using the days leading up to Dec. 25 to prepare both spiritually and materially is what Advent is all about!
What sets Advent apart from the usual secular preparations for Christmas is the spiritual dimension: Advent is a time of both prayer and penance. As Catholics, we are called to exercise a more disciplined approach to our spiritual lives during the four weeks of Advent and to pay special attention to our words and deeds as we wait patiently for the coming of Christ.
Waiting is a challenge, but instead of just counting down the days, we are called to use Advent as a time to deepen our relationship with God. Keep things simple: Read a Psalm as a bedtime prayer, go to confession, pray the rosary (especially on the special Marian feasts of the Immaculate Conception (Dec. 8) and Our Lady of Guadalupe (Dec. 12)), spend some time in Eucharistic adoration, or go to daily Mass.
You could also say the traditional St. Andrews novena – 25 days of prayer for a holy Christmas, beginning on the feast of St. Andrew, Nov. 30. If you have children, make a “good deed” crèche: Put a slip of paper, acting as a piece of straw, in the manger each time you do a good deed so that the bed will be filled with “holy softness” for the Christ Child.
Some of the major signs of the season are decorations and lights, especially those on the outside of the house. As you decorate your house, think about how lights are more than just pretty objects. Lights, especially candles, have been used for centuries at Christmas time as a symbol of the star that showed the shepherds and wise men where to find the Christ Child. Your lights can serve as a witness to the “light of the world” that is both coming and has already arrived.
Movie Review: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
By John Mulderig
NEW YORK (OSV News) – Gentle and family-oriented, “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” (Lionsgate) offers top-flight holiday entertainment for a wide range of age groups. In adapting author Barbara Robinson’s 1972 children’s novel, helmer Dallas Jenkins blends wry humor and touching drama while also successfully conveying some valuable insights.
Grace is inclined to give the neglected kids a chance to prove themselves. Yet she also justifiably fears that they’ll wreak disaster.
As she wavers, Grace is cheered on by her young daughter, Beth (Molly Belle Wright), and gets guarded support from her husband, Bob (Pete Holmes). She’s opposed every step of the way, however, by a band of close-minded fellow parishioners.
Each household develops their own traditions about when to put up a tree, stockings and other decorations. Some people like to do a litt- le bit over the weeks; others prefer to make decorating a major part of Christmas Eve. (And in case you feel as if putting up decorations early is somehow improper, the Vatican puts up its Christmas scene, consisting of trees and a crèche, in very early December!)
St. Francis of Assisi is credited with creating the first nativity scene. Invest in having a crèche of your own. Some people put theirs under the tree, others make a special scene on a table. Some families make the crèche into an ongoing tradition by adding a new figure each year.
As a small-town church prepares for the annual production of its tradition-bound yuletide pageant, the show’s long-standing director, Mrs. Armstrong (Mariam Bernstein), is suddenly put out of commission by an accident. So youthful stay-athome mom Grace (Judy Greer) volunteers to step into the breach.
As Grace tries to get her bearings, she’s daunted to find that the Herdman children, a brood of six notoriously misbehaving siblings – led by the eldest, Imogene (Beatrice Schneider) – have bullied their way into the principal roles. Imogene, in particular, is determined to play the Virgin Mary.
As narrated by the adult Beth (Lauren Graham), this is a mutual conversion story in which characters on both sides of the little controversy end up getting a better grip on the reason for the season. Thus the Herdman kids, as newcomers to worship and scripture, bring a fresh perspective to the tale of Christmas that helps renew the faith of those jaded by its familiarity.
Many families have special foods that they serve only at Christmas. As you prepare these treats, use the time to recall – and pray for – all tho- se family members who have gone before us in death.
Penned by Ryan Swanson, Platte F. Clark and Darin McDaniel, the script also treats with a delicate touch such themes as pigeonholing prejudice and the positive influence of religious role models. All this far outweighs the few quasi-irreverent exclamations used to illustrate the Herdmans’ naughtiness – wayward language that’s immediately rebuked by others on screen.
You might want to begin building some new and flavorful traditions. One idea from the Anglican tradition is to begin your holiday baking on the last Sunday before Advent. This Sunday is called “Stir-up Sunday” because traditional fruit cakes were mixed on this day and left to “mellow” until Christmas. The name comes from the collect prayer from the day’s liturgy: “Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people.” Put a new twist on the tradition by making and freezing batches of cookie dough to be baked later in the month.
Overall, although small fry are unlikely to find it of interest, “Pageant” makes welcome entertainment for all others.
The film contains a few mild oaths and a single rude expression. The OSV News classification is A-II – adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG – parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.
Advent is a time of hope and light. It is a time when we reaffirm that “nothing is impossible with God,” not even a virgin bringing forth a child. This Advent, find hope as you recommit yourself to spiritual renewal. This Advent, look for the Light in everything you do, from shopping for presents, to mailing cards, to making special food, to decorating the house.
This Advent, prepare your home and your heart for the coming of Emmanuel, God-with-Us, Jesus Christ.
(Woodeene Koenig-Bricker writes from Oregon.)
(John Mulderig is media reviewer for OSV News. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @JohnMulderig1.)
A scene from the movie “Best Christmas Pageant Ever.” (OSV News photo/Allen Fraser, Lionsgate)
JACKSON – An Advent wreath is pictured at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle in 2023. (Photo from archives)