Author Archives: Maureen Smith

500 years from Reformation: Grace remains key issue

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By Aaron Williams
For Lutherans across the world, this past October 31 was more than just your average Halloween. It was on Oct. 31, 1517, that Martin Luther nailed his famous 95 Theses to the door of All Saint’s Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Now, the countdown has begun leading up to the five-hundredth anniversary of Luther’s split with the Catholic Church and the start of modern-day Protestantism.

Williams

Williams

This year is a good opportunity for all Christians, both Protestant and Catholic, to join together in prayer for unification so that “all may be one” (John 17:21) as our Lord intended of his church from the beginning. But, this anniversary also provides for Catholics a moment to reflect on those differences which still cause separation. Especially for we who live in a overwhelmingly Protestant area, it can be helpful to know where the Catholic Church stands on significant issues which divide us from our protestant brothers and sisters.
One such issue is the matter of grace. Grace is not something most Christians often give much thought, but it is a word which we, perhaps deafly, hear preached, read in scripture, or sung in hymns. So, what is “grace”?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (no. 2003) states, “Grace is first and foremost the gift of the Spirit who justifies and sanctifies us.” Grace is that gratuitous gift of God which purifies us and assists us in living the Christian life. Understanding the role of grace requires us to ask why we need grace in the first place and to answer that question we have to consider the role of sin in our lives.
For Catholics, all sin has its root in the original sin of Adam and Eve. God commanded them, “You must not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…lest you will certainly die” (Genesis 2:17). But, we know that Adam and Eve did eat of this fruit and so they and all their children died. The church teaches that the guilt of the same sin of our first parents has been passed down from generation to generation, so that all humanity shares in this guilt. This sin was so significant that it damaged the very nature of humankind so that we were no longer able to do good works.
But, God the Father, in his infinite mercy, gave up his only Son and by the sacrifice of Christ on calvary, grace entered the world — grace enough that for all who are baptized, the guilt of original sin is totally wiped away and human nature is restored to its justified state. Men and women are made sons and daughters of God and are therefore holy and able to freely choose to do good works with the help of God’s grace.
Luther, however, did not share this view. It was his argument that human nature was so harmed by Adam and Eve’s sin that Christ’s sacrifice only served to declare all of us “justified” — even though we remained guilty of sin and incapable of doing good works. For Luther, humankind is incapable of freely choosing to do good things and even though every man and woman is sinful and their nature is turned towards evil, those who have faith in Christ will still be saved on the last day.
His view is similar to that of a child who, instead of sweeping the house, pushes the dust under a rug. For Luther, God does not restore our nature to its previous state but simply declares us “justified” — so that we appear holy from the exterior, while are still guilty of original sin interiorly.
Catholics, however, are so confident that baptism regenerates us from our sinful state that we insist even the smallest among us (infants) be baptized, even though they may not understand what it means at the time. It is a sacrament which fundamentally heals our nature interiorly and not simply from an external appearance.
For Catholics, baptism gives us the gift of faith, by which we may be saved. And since we are all made a part of the Mystical Body of Christ in baptism, all of us are capable of doing good works because we are enabled by Christ. In the words of St. Paul, “It is no longer I, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).

Martin Luther, a German monk and key figure in the Protestant Reformation, is depicted in this painting at a church in Helsingor, Denmark. Pope Francis will visit Sweden Oct. 31-Nov. 1 for commemorations of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. (CNS photo/Crosiers) See VATICAN-LETTER-SWEDEN AND SWEDEN-TRIP-REFORMATION Oct. 20, 2016.

Martin Luther, a German monk and key figure in the Protestant Reformation, is depicted in this painting at a church in Helsingor, Denmark. Pope Francis will visit Sweden Oct. 31-Nov. 1 for commemorations of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. (CNS photo/Crosiers) See VATICAN-LETTER-SWEDEN AND SWEDEN-TRIP-REFORMATION Oct. 20, 2016.

Moreover, since Christ enables us to do good works and all Christ’s works are pleasing before the Father, our own works can merit us a greater capacity for grace. This is not to say that Catholics think of salvation as if it is “bought” by good works. Humankind is justified once and for all by Christ’s sacrifice through baptism, but after that initial grace of justification, each of us is able to merit more grace to assist us in living a virtuous life and to have a greater capacity to experience God in heaven. Thus, St. Paul writes, “God will render to each according to his works” (Romans 2:6). After baptism, God gives more grace to each person according to the works they do through Christ, because everything that Christ does is pleasing to the Father.
As we approach the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, it would be good for each of us to reflect on those things which make us Catholic — our theology, our liturgy, our faith in the leadership of the church. There are so many blessings in our faith which so few of us understand. Maybe this year each of us can buy a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and commit to reading a little bit each day. And most importantly, we should each pray that “all may be one” once more.
(Aaron Williams is a third-year theologian studying at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. He and his classmate, Nick Adam, will be ordained to the the transitional diaconate in the Spring.)

Clergy deliver documents about black Catholic movement to Notre Dame

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By Catholic News Service
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (CNS) — A delegation of black Catholic priests paid a visit to the University of Notre Dame’s Theodore Hesburgh Library in South Bend to entrust the archives there with historical documents about African-American Catholic priests, sisters, brothers, deacons, seminarians and laypeople.
The group visited the archives Oct. 24 in advance of Black Catholic History Month in November. The observance was established in 1990 by the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus.
Members of the delegation Father Kenneth Taylor, a priest of the Indianapolis Archdiocese, who is president of National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus; Precious Blood Father Clarence Williams, caucus vice president and archivist; Father Theodore Parker, a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit; and Deacon Melvin Tardy, an academic adviser at Notre Dame.
The materials they delivered will be preserved in the library’s archives and be available for study.

Father Kenneth Taylor, president of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus, pushes a cart of archival material earmarked for the Theodore Hesburgh Library on the campus of the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., Oct. 25. Assisting him is Holy Cross Brother Roy Smith of Notre Dame. (CNS photo/courtesy Catholic African World Network) See BLACK-HISTORY-MONTH-CLERGY Nov. 2, 2016.

Father Kenneth Taylor, president of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus, pushes a cart of archival material earmarked for the Theodore Hesburgh Library on the campus of the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., Oct. 25. Assisting him is Holy Cross Brother Roy Smith of Notre Dame. (CNS photo/courtesy Catholic African World Network) See BLACK-HISTORY-MONTH-CLERGY Nov. 2, 2016.

The three priests were nostalgic about bringing the documentation to Notre Dame because of their personal histories with the university.
“It is hard to believe that we were here as seminarians in 1970, and began the National Black Catholic Seminarians Association. And now we return almost 50 years later as priests. Things have come full circle,” said Father Parker. He had served on the coordinating committee of the seminarians association.
The group’s first meeting at Notre Dame drew 70 black seminarians from across the country. They were the guests of the National Black Sisters Conference, which had formed two years earlier.
Father Taylor, who also was present in 1970, called it amazing to see the return of the historical documents to a place that was instrumental in building the black Catholic movement in its infancy.
“November as Black Catholic History Month is a project of the black Catholic clergy, so this is a perfect time to accept the invitation to place our chronicle with the Notre Dame archives on the American Catholic Heritage,” he said.
The Notre Dame visit was one step toward a greater appreciation of the black Catholic movement to be explored in 2018.
Father Williams, who is chairman of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus’ 50th anniversary committee, said the group was “putting things in place” as the anniversary approaches. The anniversary will mark the beginning of the black Catholic movement that began “with the clergy leading it,” he added.
The priests met with the National Interracial Justice Conference in Detroit the week after the April 4, 1968, assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King in Memphis, Tennessee. “These priests asked that those Negro priests present could gather as a caucus to share their feeling and thoughts of the Negro mood,” said a news release on the delegation’s visit to Notre Dame.
The result of those meetings in the late 1960s “was a statement on the racism of the Catholic Church and the formation” of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus, said the news release. “The rest is history.”
The clergy caucus has a standing committee to review documents and articles that will continue to build the black Catholic collection now at Notre Dame.
“We are open to the contribution of others who wish to preserve our black Catholic history and invite their participation,” Father Taylor said. “In a special way, we dedicate our efforts in the memory of (Benedictine) Cyprian Davis, who recently died.” The priest was the leading example, he said, about the need “to value the contribution of our unique Catholic journey. He was the keeper of the archives and now that he is no longer here to protect and preserve, we must take up that responsibility.”
Father Davis, who died May 18, 2015, at age 84, was considered the pre-eminent chronicler of black Catholic history. He wrote six books, including “The History of Black Catholics in the United States,” published in 1990. He was working on a revised edition of the book at the time of his death.
He also had also written what is considered the definitive biography of Mother Henriette Delille, the black foundress of the Sisters of the Holy Family in antebellum New Orleans. Her sainthood cause was opened in 1988 and she was declared venerable in 2010.

Guest Column: Veteran faces spiritual as well as physical struggle

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Light one Candle
By Tony Rossi
It was April 10, 2012, and U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Travis Mills was on his third tour of duty in Afghanistan. He and his team were sent to an area to check for IEDs (improvised explosive devices), and according to their minesweeping device, there was nothing dangerous in the ground. Mills, therefore, took off his backpack and put it down next to him. But the minesweeper had been wrong.
A hidden IED exploded, ripping off Mills’s right arm at the bicep and right knee at the leg joint. His left leg was broken, barely held on by a few pieces of muscle and tendon at the knee. Medics rushed over, but Mills told them to leave him alone because he believed there was no way he could be saved. They ignored him, evacuating him to Kandahar.
As doctors prepped him for surgery, Mills’s left leg came off when they pulled his pants down. He had already lost three of his limbs. And on April 12th, his left arm had to be amputated mid-wrist.
After being under heavy sedation for several days, Mills woke up on April 14th as one of only five quadruple amputees to survive injuries in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was his 25th birthday.
His battles weren’t over yet, though. Mills was in excruciating pain, both physically and mentally. He feared that his wife Kelsey and baby daughter Chloe would see him as a monster. And then there was God. Mills had lived a pretty upstanding life, so saying he was angry at God for allowing this to happen would be an understatement.
His physical pain was eventually resolved through a revolutionary treatment called a ketamine coma, which reset Mills’s nerve endings, allowing him to live pain free. And prosthetics allow him to function normally. When he tried to convince Kelsey that she should leave him because he was too much of a burden, she refused and assured him that she would be staying true to her marriage vows. And six-month-old Chloe?
As Mills told me during an interview about his Christopher Award-winning memoir “Tough As They Come,” she just sees him as “regular old Dad.”
Spiritually speaking, Mills still had some issues. While he was recovering in the hospital, his sister-in-law brought him a plaque with the words of Joshua 1:9 on it: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
He told her to take it away because he didn’t believe those words anymore. “What did God do?” he asked her. “Did he take a smoke break? Did he quit on me?”
She left the plaque where it was despite his protests. Eventually, Mills came to a new understanding of God’s role in our lives. He said, “I realized it’s not okay to just be a believer when things are going your way. That’s not how this works. It was important for me to realize that I had my family, I had my life, I had the ability to do things. As much as I was upset about the situation, God had a plan for me to keep going forward.”
Part of that forward movement involves running the Travis Mills Foundation, which supports fellow wounded warriors and their families by showing them that they can still live a life of accomplishment, purpose, and love. That’s not just speculation or happy talk. It’s a truth that Travis Mills exemplifies each day.
(Tony Rossi is the Communications Director for The Christophers, a Catholic media company. The mission of The Christophers is to encourage people of all ages, and from all walks of life, to use their God-given talents to make a positive difference in the world. Learn more at www.christophers.org.)

Guest Column: At life’s end, your best gift

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By Sister Constance Veit, l.s.p.
As a resident of Washington, D.C., I have been closely following the campaign to legalize assisted suicide in our nation’s capital.
At the same time, my siblings and I have spent the last two weeks at my mother’s bedside in a hospital intensive care unit in my hometown. For days, I’ve been watching the physicians and nurses tending, with incredible focus and professionalism, to my mother, who is unconscious. No clinical sign has been left unexamined; no potential treatment option left undiscussed. Witnessing all of this has given me a lot to think about.
Such attention to detail; so many resources spent on a single life – and the lives of each of the other critically ill patients in this and so many other hospitals – how can we explain such an intense level of financial and human investment in the sick and elderly?
For me the answer to this question is obvious: Each human life is worth our care and attention because every person has been created in God’s image and likeness and is thus endowed with inviolable dignity and worth. As Pope Benedict XVI often said, “Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary” in God’s plan.
Every human life is sacred, even when the individual is unaware or no longer values life.

Sr. Viet

Sr. Viet

To those who are advocating for the ability to cut short the lives of the sick and elderly, and to those who express the desire to end life on their own terms, we must offer a heartfelt response: Even if you no longer value your own life, we do. We value your life because you are inherently worthy of love and reverence. There is no need to prove your usefulness or your personal worth; you are valuable simply because you are, and because you are a fellow child of God.
The sick, disabled and elderly play an essential role in our human community, in part, because they draw us together and teach us, through their state of dependence, how to be more loving. This was highlighted by Tracy Grant of The Washington Post, whose reflection about caring for her terminally ill husband went viral several weeks ago.
Grant referred to the time she spent caring for her husband as the best months of her life. Prior to her husband’s illness, she wrote, “I had yet to discover the reason I was put on this earth. During those seven months, I came to understand that whatever else I did in my life, nothing would matter more than this. Even though I really didn’t know how this would end.”
“Some days were more difficult than others,” Grant recalled, “but there were moments of joy, laughter, tenderness in every day – if I was willing to look hard enough. I found I could train myself to see more beauty than bother, to set my internal barometer to be more compassionate than callous. But I also discovered that with each day, my heart and soul grew more open to seeing this beauty than at any other time in my life.”
Grant believes that she “will never again be as good a person” as she was when she cared for her husband. “I am a better person for having been [his] caregiver,” she concluded. “It was his last, best gift to me.”
My siblings and I returned home to share a home-cooked meal dropped off by an old friend. We watched the World Series and talked about all we’ve been through with my mother so far, as well as our own wishes and intentions in such a situation. If my mother had chosen to check out early, we, her children, would not have these weeks together to shower her with our love and grow up a little more, together. This may be her last, best gift to us.
As you consider your end of life wishes think twice before you deprive your family members and friends of your last, best gift.
(Sister Constance Veit, l.s.p., is director of communications for the Little Sisters of the Poor.)

‘God charmed me’ into life of simplicity, joy

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JACKSON – Missionaries Guadalupanas of the Holy Spirit Sisters Lourdes Gonzalez (right) and Obdulia Olivar share a happy smile during the recent meeting of Hispanic ministers in Jackson.

JACKSON – Missionaries Guadalupanas of the Holy Spirit Sisters Lourdes Gonzalez (right) and Obdulia Olivar share a happy smile during the recent meeting of Hispanic ministers in Jackson.

By Sister Lourdes Gonzalez, MGSpS
“Vocational experience! Are you crazy? What is happening to you? I don’t understand anything” These are some of the comments I heard from several people when I shared with them my desire to respond to God’s call, when He was calling me to be part of his life, to dedicate my life to him, in service to my brothers and sisters.
With simplicity, I share with you the way in which God charmed me and I let myself be seduced by him.
I was 20-years-old when suddenly, without knowing why, I began to feel a sense of emptiness, of dissatisfaction. Nothing of what I did or saw around me made sense. By then I had finished my interior decoration studies at the University of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, and I was working. With my savings I had bought a new car which made me feel like I was living in a dream. I was very pleased to have achieved one of my dreams in such a short time.
And I had a boyfriend. He was a nice young man, a professional, responsible and respectful. It was a good match, as it is commonly said. I also had good friends with whom I traveled frequently to the beach and other places we enjoyed and I had a good relationship with my extended family. I could not understand why I was feeling this inner emptiness.
Although my parents were active Catholics, I only attended Mass on Sundays and Holy Days but tried to live my life in a very healthy and responsible way. I say this to mention that God’s call came without me asking.
I put in my lips the words of the Prophet Amos, “I was not a prophet nor the son of prophet, I was a pastor and seller of figs.” The Lord took me from following the flock and said to me, go prophesy to my people Israel.”(Amos 7:14-16)
I went through a period of uncertainty, searching in my inner self, trying to figure out, to discover what was going on. I wanted to get to the root of this feeling so strange that I was experiencing in my heart.
By chance, one day I met Mother Mary of Jesus Ramos, MGSpS, who worked in my parish, Immaculate Heart of Mary. She had been working there for two years but I didn’t know her. I remember very well, it was a Tuesday. Luckily, I was at home that day and at 5 in the afternoon as she knocked on the door to lead a Bible study, something she did weekly at different homes as part of her apostolate.
As soon as I saw her my heart began to beat at a rapid pace, as if the presence of a religious was a novelty to me, as if I had never seen a Sister in my life. That was not the case because I had studied at a Catholic school with the Servants of Jesus of the Blessed Sacrament.
Since the first moment I was very impressed by Mother Mary – her joy, her joviality, when my gaze crossed with hers, and I liked the way she conducted the meeting, so cordial, direct when she spoke to all the people gathered there.
From then on I asked her to talk with me so she could help me discover what was going on in my life. Kindly she accepted, I don’t remember how often we gathered and for how long we talked.
Finally I asked her to let me live an experience with the community to learn more, to see how they lived and what they were doing. A short time later she told me I could go to Morelia to have an experience with the postulants (girls who are starting their process in religious life).
I remember that when I arrived at the community’s house, and from the moment they opened the door I said ‘here it is! This is what I am looking for!’
The ministry I have undertaken as a Missionary Guadalupana of the Holy Spirit has been in this beloved country, United States, specifically in California, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts and now here in Mississippi for almost six years. Currently I am serving the Hispanic community of Jackson St. Therese Parish.
“You duped me, O Lord, and I let myself be duped; you were too strong form me, and you triumphed. (Jr. 20:7)

Sr. Bernadette felt call to religious life early

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By Sister Bernadette McNamara, S.H.Sp.
I’m a Sister of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate. Our Motherhouse is located in San Antonio, Texas, the cradle of our foundation.
I grew up in a loving and faith filled family on Achill Island, County Mayo, Ireland. I was the third oldest of 12 children. I had a wonderful childhood though because of health issues, aggravated by the dampness on the island, my father had to work in England and we only got to see him, for a week, every few months.
As a young girl, Missionary Sisters often visited our elementary school, many of whom worked in Africa – they told us stories and showed us pictures of their missionary work among African children who were very poor. They asked us to sell tickets and fill “mite boxes” with our pennies to support their work. I began to dream of one day working with those children – my vocation was born.

Sister Bernadette McNamara narrates the annual Holy Family Early Learning Center Passion Play in this 2014 file photo.

Sister Bernadette McNamara narrates the annual Holy Family Early Learning Center Passion Play in this 2014 file photo.

I didn’t know how my dream would become a reality, but the Holy Spirit has a way of guiding each one of us exactly where God wants us to be. I went to live with my aunt, in County Galway; she lived close to the convent and high school where the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate lived and taught. I was 12 years old at that time.
When I was 15, I told my parents that I had decided to join the sisters. On January 6, 1950, I bid farewell to my beloved family and with two others, I entered the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate. A few months later, on July 4, we left on the Mauretania – a passenger ship bound for New York. We made the trip to San Antonio by train. There I received my formation as a Sister of the Holy Spirit, and continued my education, first at St. Mary’s University and later at the University of Incarnate Word.
I pronounced my first vows as a religious sister in 1952. During the next 64 years I lived a full and rich life, which had its challenges but also an abundance of joys and blessings. In the earlier years I taught in schools in Texas, and in New Orleans, Louisiana, where I taught for a year and then became the school principal.
I had the privilege of ministering with and for the people of Mississippi for 21 great years – 12 as principal of St. Peter the Apostle Elementary School in Pascagoula and nine at Holy Family in Natchez. St. Peter the Apostle School in Pascagoula was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and the pastor decided it was not feasible to rebuild. And so ended my ministry there.
I volunteered to go to Natchez to teach. Two years after I arrived, the elementary school closed because of financial challenges. In the fall of 2007 an Early Childhood Learning Center opened at Holy Family and I was asked to serve as the Catholic identity and financial director of the Program. Talk about life after death. The following eight years were a mixture of so many joys and blessings, but also some serious challenges.
In March 2015 I had a serious fall. I broke my second cervical vertebra. After time in the hospital and physical therapy I was able to travel. I moved to our Motherhouse in San Antonio where I now reside. Although I had to leave Natchez, I left my heart there with the beautiful people who were such a blessing in my life. I continue to support the program from a distance, through my daily prayers and in any other way I can offer my support.
(Sister McNamara lives in retirement in San Antonio. See the ad on this page for an address.)

SHSM hosts international educational mission convention

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Holly Springs Holy Family Principal Clara Isom leads the choir of educators throughout the conference. Holy Family students also participated in the event.

Holly Springs Holy Family Principal Clara Isom leads the choir of educators throughout the conference. Holy Family students also participated in the event.

By Laura Grisham
SOUTHAVEN – Mission Education. Every few years a contingency from the U.S. Province of the Priests of the Sacred Heart (SCJ) and their affiliated organizations gather to learn about Father Leo John Dehon, founder of the Priests of the Sacred Heart, as well as the congregation that carries on his ministries. This October, Sacred Heart Southern Missions (SHSM) hosted the eighth such gathering of the SCJs. The two-day conference was the second one held here in North Mississippi.
The time and talent exerted in putting the event together did not hold a candle to the spiritual treasure and fellowship received by all who attended.
Titled “Mission in Mercy,” the conference was infused with music and prayer — a celebration of God’s mercy and the opportunity to extend that mercy to others through all of our various missions and daily tasks.
On Monday, Sacred Heart School welcomed attendees. The activities began with the voices of the ‘educators’ choir, lead by Holy Family School principal Clara Isom. Among their musical selections, the group sang “Who Will Speak?” encouraging audience participation and setting the tone for the conference.
Father Jack Kurps, SCJ, greeted the crowd, visually introduced the contingents from all corners of the country and in doing so, showed our solidarity – united in our common mission of mercy. With so many facets, one might think it a “Mission Impossible,” but in a clever video production, Father Kurps showed that our mission is possible, relevant and much needed, especially today. The superior general of the congregation, Father Heiner Wilmer, SCJ, who also appeared via video, echoed Father Jack’s sentiments.
“An Interview with Father Dehon,” provided a look back to the challenges he faced more than a century ago. It was a clever presentation involving a reporter, Province Communications Director Mary Gorski, and Father Dehon, played by Dave Schimmel, province director of Dehonian Associates, helped participants gain an understanding of his work.

Father Quang Nguyen, SCJ,spoke of the economics of proverty. He demonstrated the gripping realities that so many in the country face every day.

Father Quang Nguyen, SCJ,spoke of the economics of proverty. He demonstrated the gripping realities that so many in the country face every day.

Father Quang Nguyen, SCJ, spoke of the economics of poverty while SHSM’s director of programs, Shakebra Young, made the numbers personal as she shared her own struggles of poverty here in the Mississippi Delta. Both demonstrated the gripping realities that so many in our country face every day.
Ekpe, a local entertainer, and his band, told the story of “From Africa to Beale Street.” This performance highlighted a rich legacy of music. Ekpe moved the audience and had them on their feet.
Sister Cathy Bertrand, SSND, a member of the SHSM board of directors, facilitated several panel discussions about Mercy In Action throughout the conference. The discussions brought members from the various service aspects of SHSM and other SCJ affiliated organizations to the table to share how they perceive their role of mercy in their particular area or ministry.
Bishop Joseph Kopacz, bishop for the Diocese of Jackson, and Mary Woodward, diocesan chancellor, also addressed the gathering, speaking about the Church and its challenges in Mississippi. The largest diocese east of the Mississippi River, it encompasses some of the poorest areas of the nation. He lauded the contributions and accomplishments of Sacred Heart Southern Missions and the SCJs in caring physically and spiritually for those living in the northwestern counties of the diocese.
Bishop Kopacz was also the main celebrant at Mass on Monday afternoon at Holy Spirit Church in Hernando. A traditional southern barbecue dinner was served immediately following with a performance by local blues artists Sean “Bad Apple” Appel and Stud Ford to close the day.
Tuesday morning attendees were bused to Holly Springs to continue the conference at Holy Family School.
The day began with praise and thanksgiving. Isom and the ‘educators choir’ mesmerized the audience, singing ‘Jesus Love and Mercy’ and “I Feel Like Traveling Home.” Images from the Heart of Christ, narrated by Dave Schimmel, also gave participants an opportunity to reflect on how they saw and related to Jesus in the Sacred Heart. Holy Family students presented a “Live Wax Museum” of African American inventors, surprising many with their knowledge of historical facts.

Music and dancing was part of the event. A performance by local blues artists Sean “Bad Apple” Appel and Stud Ford closed the day.

Music and dancing was part of the event. A performance by local blues artists Sean “Bad Apple” Appel and Stud Ford closed the day.

Panel discussions continued, facilitated by Sister Bertrand, and were sprinkled with opportunities for table and room discussions by all in attendance before and after lunch. And speaking of lunch, there was not a soul present that did not have rave reviews for the traditional “Thanksgiving” dinner, cooked by the fine members of Strawberry Baptist Church.
The conference began as it ended, in song. Mercy in Mission.
(Reprinted with permission from SHSM’s newsletter. )

St. Dominic Hospital works to prevent racism

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By Lillian Hawthorne, RN, BSN
On April 16, 1946, ownership of a rundown 20-bed Mississippi hospital was transferred to the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, IL. The Jackson Infirmary, to be known henceforth as St. Dominic Hospital, became the first hospital in the nation dedicated to the founder of the Order of Preachers. It put the Dominican Sisters in the midst of one of the greatest challenges to face the white ruling class in the country: dismantling Jim Crow.
When the Sisters took charge, the hospital was still facing segregation, as laws hadn’t changed. Black patients were admitted into dank basement rooms; black employees earned lower wages than white employees; and it was obvious that the black and white staff did not interact well, if at all. The Sisters admit to not always knowing in which direction to move, but they knew they were part of a divine mission, so they launched a desegregation campaign.
First, they raised the wages of black employees to parity with whites. They upgraded facilities for black patients, including a modern pharmacy, laboratory, and kitchen. They also began hiring black employees to positions such as registered nurses, surgical technologists, laboratory technicians and pharmacists. By the end of 1965, all public areas had been desegregated. A black woman had enrolled at the school of nursing in the R.N. program.

A statue of St. Dominic stands outside the hospital chapel in Jackson. (Photo and story courtesy of St. Dominic's Hospital)

A statue of St. Dominic stands outside the hospital chapel in Jackson. (Photo and story courtesy of St. Dominic’s Hospital)

Today, St. Dominic Health Services (SDHS) is the only Catholic healthcare provider in the state of Mississippi.
In 2005, in sync with the Dominican Sisters’ commitment to dismantling institutional racism in all of their institutions, the health system established an anti-racism team that works to transform a culture of institutional racism. People of color are found in every facet of the organizational chart, from environmental services to vice president.
As a member of the St. Dominic anti-racism Team (StDART), I am grateful to the Dominican Sisters for their support in addressing institutional racism. The StDART team has the full support of SDHS administrators as well. On more than one occasion, Claude Harbarger, St. Dominic Health Services President, has shaken my hand and said, “Thank you for doing this work for us. We know it will be worthwhile.” That’s the hope I have as well, that the work we are doing will indeed be worthwhile.
(Author Lillian Hawthorn, RN, BSN, is a RN Clinical Educator at St. Dominic.)

New Carmelite leader gives parents credit for deep faith

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In this file photo from 2015, Sister Mary Jane of the Resurrection (right) shares a laugh with Sister Cor Christi Abenio and Lloyd Chatham during the art show of Sister Mary Muriel Ludden, a Discalced Carmelite nun who died in 2013.(Photo by Elsa Baughman)

In this file photo from 2015, Sister Mary Jane of the Resurrection (right) shares a laugh with Sister Cor Christi Abenio and Lloyd Chatham during the art show of Sister Mary Muriel Ludden, a Discalced Carmelite nun who died in 2013.(Photo by Elsa Baughman)

By Elsa Baughman
JACKSON – Before she came to the United States from the Philippines to serve at the Carmelite Monastery, Sister Mary Jane of the Resurrection had been a Carmelite nun for 35 years. She says her calling began to develop at a very young age when her neighbor would come to her house to read her and her siblings children’s books about the life of the saints. “I was about seven years old, and these stories, which were very easy to follow, taught us about how to practice virtues such as acts of love, kindness,” she remembers. “These hidden messages stuck with me.”
One of the books she loved the best was the life of St. Therese of Avila. Later in life, Sister Mary Jane was attracted to silence and solitude, something she thinks is a gift from God because while she was surrounded by all the noise she was able to feel the presence of God. “I think I got this feeling from St. Therese.”
She learned a lot from reading the life of St. Therese but she attributes her faith to her parents who were devoted Catholics.
She had a normal life growing up in the Philippines. She had friends, went to parties, joined clubs, was a ballet dancer. But her calling was haunting her. “I wanted to put this feeling aside because I wanted to enjoy the life I was having but the calling kept haunting me,” she noted. “I even considered marriage life in the future but then I thought if I married there was not coming back.
“With time I began to feel the need to address God’s will for me and when I made my decision to answer His call there was this feeling of liberation, of peace, it was a confirmation that God was going to protect me.”
She grew up with the Columban Sisters from Ireland who ran the school she attended. Remembering her childhood, when she started to hear the Lord’s calling, Sister Mary Jane said she was attracted to their mission but at the time she was looking for something that she didn’t find in that congregation.
At the age of 15, she thought about applying at the Carmelite congregation and without telling anyone she went to their monastery to speak to the prioress, a French nun who could barely speak English. When she told her about her intentions to enter the monastery the nun told her, “Oh my child, there is only one St. Therese.” Sister Mary Jane had a good laugh reminiscing this scene.
The prioress encouraged her to go back home, to continue her high school studies and to return after she was sure about her vocation. “And I just did that. I really wanted to ‘taste’ how their life was.”
At 18 she returned to the monastery to begin her religious life. She said she thought that if she didn’t like it she would go back home to start college.
“Here I am, 45 years later and enjoying my life as a Carmelite nun. She says she could have gone the other way but this was a special call. “I have always felt I am one of the few chosen. Everything comes from him and I did his will. I am happy where I am. My life as a Carmelite nun is a life of prayer. We spend much of our life praying not only for the church but for all people of the world, for peace, for refugees, for the unborn. We do it for our love for him, to save souls, to save sinners. This is my great joy, praying.”
In fact, the sisters gather seven times a day to pray as a community and they are required to have individual prayers in the morning and in the evening as well as spend time in silence.
Sister Mary Jane, who has been living in the Carmelite Monastery for 10 years, was elected as prioress of her community on May 24 of this year and installed by Bishop Joseph Kopacz during a special Mass at the monastery.
About her new role in the community she says that it’s a big responsibility. “I do my part to serve the community and I feel myself as a servant of the servants.”
There are five sisters living in the monastery at his moment.

Dominicans offer invitation to adventure

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Dear Catholic Women of Mississippi,
National Vocation Awareness Week is wrapping up. Will you join me and all of our Springfield Dominican Sisters in Jackson and around the world in praying for young people who are discerning religious life?
Do you know someone you feel has the gifts to be a sister?
Be in touch. I’m happy to share with you some tips for how to water the seed of God’s call in someone you know and love. Check out springfieldop.org/a-gift-for-you/.
Interested in Dominican life for yourself? Keep reading!
Do you have a heart made for God?

Sr. Marron

Sr. Marron

Here’s the secret: everyone does! It’s just a matter of being quiet long enough to hear where your heart, already connected to God, is calling you. Do you think religious life takes courage? It does, some. Having courage is the same thing as having “heart.” The ‘cour’ in courage means heart. St. Paul’s talk about being members of the body of Christ is another way of saying that we are deeply connected to one another and to all of God’s creation in the heart of Jesus, God’s love-made-human for us all.
Do you have a sense of adventure?
Do you like the idea of learning a second language? Traveling overseas? Giving a year of service in an unfamiliar city? Then you already have that sense of adventure that might make you an excellent sister-candidate! There is no shortage of adventure when you belong to the Dominican family: sisters, nuns, priests, brothers, laity and associates who circle the globe and are deeply committed to one another and the preaching mission that St. Dominic imagined when he founded the Order of Preachers 800 years ago.
Do you want to be happy?
Who doesn’t! There’s all kinds of evidence that the one thing that makes us happiest — no matter who we are — is a deep sense of gratitude for the gift of our life, the little and big pleasures, wonders, and surprises that keep us aware of the movement of God’s Holy Spirit in our lives and in our world. Being a Catholic sister comes with a HUGE happiness quotient when it’s the right fit for you.
Are you looking for a place to belong?
Sooner or later every person develops her own sense of identity and the awareness that her gifts are meant, not just for herself, but for the well-being of the world. When you come to that realization, life in religious community can be a fantastic place to land!
More about us
People who know us well say that we Springfield Dominican Sisters are effective ministers, powerful pray-ers and hospitable, down-to-earth folks. They see us as leaders in places where God’s people are alive and thriving. We’ve served in the Diocese of Jackson for 70 years at St. Dominic’s Health Services. We also have a broad reach across Illinois, where we are based, in several other states, and in the peaks and valleys of Peru. With us, you and other like-minded women have the opportunity to live out your dreams in ways that can change the world.
It is never too early — or too late — to consider joining St. Dominic’s family, the Order or Preachers. We’d be honored to accompany you on your journey of discernment no matter what time in life you are ready to respond to God’s call.
The easiest way to learn more about being a Dominican Sister is to talk with a Dominican Sister. You can reach out in all the traditional and electronic ways, but the best way is to get to know one of us. You are most welcome to call Sister Susan Karina Dickey at St. Dominic’s in Jackson at 601-200-6829, or to touch base with me in Springfield at srteresa@spdom.org or 217-787-0481.
We are known most prominently for our education and healthcare ministries, but we also minister to people in need of spiritual guidance, pastoral care and counseling. We are caretakers of 150 acres of land in central Illinois where our mission is to care for Earth, our common home. Our sisters have traveled the world to witness to the urgent needs of God’s people in areas of conflict and poverty around the globe.
At our three Illinois high schools — Rosary High School, Aurora; Sacred Heart-Griffin, Springfield; and Marian Catholic, Chicago Heights — we teach and preach the Gospel, passing along to young women and men excellent intellectual training, a love for Jesus, a commitment to truth, and the skills needed for productive and faithful adulthood.
This year we celebrate 70 years of compassionate, healing service to the people of central Mississippi at St. Dominic Health Services, Jackson, where the opportunities to fulfill Jesus’ healing mission are countless.
We also minister in places like Our Lady of the Sioux, at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in Oglala, South Dakota, and are deeply engaged in accompanying women and men who want to learn English and become U.S. citizens at our two literacy centers in the Chicago area.
Unsure of Where to Use Your Gifts?
That’s okay! You can make your path by walking it. Our Springfield Dominican family includes both North and South Americans. Our Peruvian sisters minister high in the rural Andes and in Lima’s urban center in parishes and in a shelter for homeless elderly women.
We are passionate in our commitment to dismantle systemic racism in the United States and Peru. Our modest efforts have begun to ripple throughout our spheres of influence in exciting, and we believe Spirit-led ways to root out systemic racism.
Let God Prove You Wrong
If you love God and God’s people, and are attracted — even a little bit — to finding yourself by losing yourself in service to the Gospel, then be in touch with us!
Why not give God the opportunity to prove you wrong? You have nothing to lose and everything to gain! There is a place for you as a Springfield Dominican Sister.
I’d love to hear from you. Please be in touch.
In Jesus and St. Dominic,
Sister Teresa Marron, OP