By Maureen Smith
GREENWOOD – As the Diocese of Jackson rolls out the new Pastoral Priorities, Mississippi Catholic will feature goals, projects and success stories from different groups. The first comes from a youth minister in the Delta. The youth groups from the Immaculate Heart of Mary and St. Francis of Assisi are focusing their year on the priority of ‘embrace diversity.’
“We have about 30 kids in our LifeTeen program between the two parishes,” said Derrick Faucheux, youth minister for both parishes. “And they are all from different cultures.” Half, he said, are Hispanic. The rest are African-American or white. The group has been meeting and getting to know one another, but Faucheux was ready to take them a step farther.
When the group started meeting, Faucheux said the kids did not all sit together, but would cluster in groups. “We were not sure how we were going to break that mold,” he said. One night, the students and a group of adult leaders played an icebreaker game and everything changed. “I don’t even remember what the game was, but THAT night, there was an electricity in the room. The kids started actually talking to each other,” he explained. This one breakthrough was the first step in a months-long process to unite the members of the group.
“These kids go to five or six different schools, public and private, they come from different cultural, racial and socio-economic backgrounds. If not for this youth group, they probably would never have known each other at all.”
Once the students got a little more comfortable together, Faucheux started working on ways to explore their diverse backgrounds as a group. They started with a retreat-style gathering at the Locus Benedictus retreat center on the edge of town. The gathering, Saturday, May 6, offered a glimpse into the Hispanic devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Redemptorist community in Greenwood helped with Guadalupe Youth Day, providing insight and the location. The students participated in soccer, a picnic and other outdoor activities, but also spent time exploring how Hispanic cultures honor Our Lady of Guadalupe.
“The Catholic Church is universal. Even though Our Lady of Guadalupe is mostly a Hispanic devotion, she belongs to everyone,” Faucheux said. He wanted the teens to see how they can worship or participate in devotions specific to their culture, but also appreciate the devotions of other cultures.
He plans to expand these lessons throughout the year, examining African-American Catholic culture and leaders, Southern Catholicism, anything that will show the students how they can be diverse, but also unified. “I want the kids to see that the Church is universal,” he said.
Some members of the youth group went to Abbey Youth Fest together. The trip allowed the teens to spend a long time together getting to know one another better within a Catholic context.
Faucheux attended a national gathering of youth ministers where he asked others about their challenges with diversity.
“Very few of those leaders have a group as diverse as this one,” he said. The Mississippi Delta is unique in its blend of cultures. Far from being discouraged, Faucheux finds the challenge to be the perfect way to showcase how the Catholic church can embrace everyone. “Something was telling me to put all these kids together because it is such a witness to the Catholic Church that we can be together, we are universal.”