By John Surratt, The Vicksburg Post

VICKSBURG – Kathleen Harris and Brittany McFall are seeking ladies interested in fellowship, growing spiritually and sharing their experiences of motherhood.

Members of St. Paul Catholic Church, the women are looking to expand the Vicksburg Catholic Moms Group they began in February 2022 to share their experiences in faith and family life.

“Our local Catholic Moms group is partnered with CatholicMomsGroup.com; it’s a ministry run by the Dynamic Women Association of Ontario (Canada),” Harris said. “It’s based in Canada and it’s through the Archdiocese of Toronto. We are just one of 55 groups worldwide within the ministry. The goal is to revive the vocation of motherhood and encourage Catholic moms.”

The goal of the ministry, Harris said, is to revive the vocation to motherhood and encourage Catholic moms to belong to a parish-based community.

“All of our materials are from the larger ministry and are in compliance with Catholic Church’s teaching, and so it includes things like bible studies, a DVD series, speakers, books and information about liturgical living and then they’ve got some webinars,” she said, adding the materials are used during the meetings.

“We gather to pray together and share parenting joys and woes and tips and just to support one another as Catholic moms and to learn about our Catholic faith together and grow spiritually,” Harris said. “I think something very important to note is that we hold our Blessed Mother Mary as our model and for motherhood and a patroness for our ministry.

“The why (for forming the club) for us is just simply because we need each other; our kind of village of moms. We need Jesus and we need Mary as our model. That’s kind of the why, why we do it, why Brittany and I felt we needed a Catholic moms group in town.”

Each meeting consists of four parts – prayer, catechesis, fellowship and then a call to action of what members bring from the meetings.

“We have a wonderful group of multi-generational mothers, so a range of moms at different phases of motherhood, so that we can kind of share our unique experiences and support from wherever we’re at,” Harris said.

“Our group is Catholic moms looking for fellowship with other moms and an opportunity for faith formation so our meeting materials are typically geared toward the moms, but kids are welcome at meetings,” she added. “Whatever works better for the mom that day if they want to bring a kid along and we do have some dedicated moms and tots and we have activities to get some of the young, younger kids involved.”

The group meets monthly in Glynn Hall at St. Paul Catholic Church.

“We have been meeting on the fourth Wednesday of the month, but right now we’re transitioning to the second Monday unless there’s a major conflict,” Harris said. “If there is a change to that, we post it in the church bulletins around town. We have a group message system that we’ll post it in and we send emails to our email list.”

“Even though we meet at St. Paul’s and St. Paul’s is our home base, it’s open to all Catholic moms so it’s not just St. Paul Catholic moms,” McFall said.

She said the group recently attended the first Saturday Mass at St. Edwards in Tallulah and the pastor, the Rev. Ryan Humphreys gave a talk about the Blessed Mother.

“When we did that, it wasn’t just the moms; it was the whole families were invited,” McFall said.

“It’s two hours Sunday afternoon from 2 to 4 p.m.,” Harris said. “It’s an opportunity for moms to learn about our ministry and discuss future meetings and it would be a great opportunity for a mom to get involved. There are no commitments or anything, but just getting together. We’re going to watch some of the videos about like the meetings and planning and let the Holy Spirit guide us from there.”

The Catholic Moms website is www.catholicmomsgroup.com. Mothers wishing to contact Harris or McFall can email them at vicksburgcatholicmomsgroup@gmail.com.

Reprinted with permission of The Vicksburg Post.

(John Surratt is a graduate of Louisiana State University with a degree in general studies. He has worked as an editor, reporter and photographer for newspapers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post staff since 2011 and covers city government. He and his wife attend St. Paul Catholic Church and he is a member of the Port City Kiwanis Club.)