By Maureen Smith
JACKSON – Adoptive and foster parents, as well as teenagers in foster care, have a new resource at their disposal thanks to the work from a team at Catholic Charities. Staff members in adoption services used a grant from the Mississippi Department of Human Services to create a website packed full of resources and educational opportunities. The staff is also taking the resources on the road, offering continuing education workshops to foster parents across the state.
Angela Griffin, the program director for adoption services, said when her agency got the grant to develop an online resource for adoptive and foster parents, she and her co-workers thought it would be a one-page site. “There were not any strict guidelines as to how to develop this, so we started brainstorming,” Griffin explained. Before long, she and her co-workers had lots of ideas, but needed some direction.
Rachel Hodges, a senior from Jackson State University, started an internship with Catholic Charities in December, 2014. The rest of the team members credit her with bringing a new energy and focus to the project. In addition to helping get everything organized and launched, she created some of the online evaluation materials.
“I had the opportunity to create the tests for the CEU (continuing education credit) materials,” said Hodges. She used five different texts creating a quiz for each. “I learned a lot for myself that I can use in future parenting situations,” she added.
Ben Garrott, technology director for the agency said it quickly became apparent the ‘page’ could be its own website. “It just kept growing and growing,” he joked, adding that once the team came up with a template, colors and a structure, building it was easy.
Griffin said her team did not have to create a lot of new materials. “The resources were out there. This was just a matter of putting it together in one place,” Griffin explained. She has 15 years of experience in adoption and foster care. Her co-worker, Stephanie Harris, has 25. That expertise helped them narrow down what offerings were important, relevant and needed. “Knowing what families want and need in terms of resources and knowing how adoptions are handled helps.” Both women said input from families who are caring for foster or adopted children is important to the resource site.
The site has sections for adoptive and foster parents, birth mothers and teens and tweens who are in foster care. It features paper and electronic books people can request, videos, articles and links. Many of the resources are just to help people, especially the children, birth parents and those seeking information about adoption. Others include web-based or in-person learning options for adoptive and foster parents. Foster parents must complete 10 hours of CEU training a year. This allows them to complete some of that training online and there are schedules where they can see what in-person training Catholic Charities offers. These sessions range from how foster parents can better communicate with schools to diagnosis and medication management as well as other childcare topics.
“We wanted it to have a variety of tools,” said Griffin. “One part of the environment that gets left out is birth parents. There is information on how to search for a child that they may not know about,” explained Griffin. She said many people did not talk about birth parents before the modern idea of open adoption. She said she has seen a change in birth mothers who opt to give up their babies in her time in the field. “Most of them want open adoption now. They are not afraid to share their information. Today, most of them are driving the adoption. They are being more proactive, seeking out parents themselves,” she added. She said there are risks in this kind of adoption, but it does put more power in the hands of the birth family.
Harris said she has seen many changes in the adoption and foster care field throughout her career. “This technology age has really brought about a change. Seeing Catholic Charities go through that and add it in has really been a positive thing,” she said. Resources like this online library are an example of how the agency can serve multiple audiences at one time.
The staff plans to maintain the site, adding new materials as need. It can be found online at www.ccjresourcelibrary.org.
Catholic Charities programs such as adoption and foster care are funded through Catholic Service Appeal. Donations help cover overall costs at the agency and put money into particular programs as needed. It’s not too late to pledge or donate to CSA.

By Mary Woodward
If you have ever participated in the annual Chrism Mass at St. Peter Cathedral then you have seen how your Catholic Service Appeal donations assist the ministry of the diocesan office of worship.
The Chrism Mass or Mass of the Oils is a concrete example of how your sharing of your gifts builds up the prayer life of our diocesan Catholic family. Celebrated by Bishop Joseph Kopacz on Tuesday of Holy Week (this
year on March 31), the Chrism Mass brings together the priests in the diocese, lay ecclesial ministers, representatives from the parishes and missions and our diocesan seminarians.
Preparation for the Mass begins weeks before with worship office staff members, yours truly as director, and Sue Anne Booth, coordinator of the oil team, counting bottles, bottle caps and boxes to make sure there are enough for the 100 units of three bottles per box. Booth coordinates a team of a dozen volunteers who mete out the blessed oils of the sick and catechumens and consecrated chrism into 300 individual bottles – all during the Mass so the representatives can take them back to their parishes at the end of the liturgy. She recently took over leadership of the team from long time coordinator, Lucy Lovertich, member of Pearl St. Jude Parish.
The volunteers are a great gift to our diocese as they are tasked with the important job of making sure each parish has its oils for the next year. These oils are used in baptisms, anointing of the sick, confirmations, ordinations and consecrations of new altars. The volunteers provide an essential service to our diocese and many have done this for years. We are very grateful for them.
Catholic Service Appeal gifts help the diocese purchase the materials for the Chrism Mass including 20 liters of extra virgin olive oil as well as boxes and labels to hold one bottle each of oil of catechumens, oil of the sick and sacred chrism. It may seem rather mundane but these material goods actually become sacred objects once the oils are blessed and consecrated.
The Chrism Mass begins with a beautiful procession led by incense and metered out to the majestic tempo of the Cathedral organ played by music director James Scoggins. Following the incense comes the processional cross leading in our diocesan seminarians who serve at the Mass. Next comes the Book of the Gospel carried by the deacon. Our priests follow, walking two-by-two as the disciples on the road to Emmaus.
The bishop, vested in the symbols of his office – miter, crosier, ring and pectoral cross – culminates the procession as it approaches the cathedral’s altar.
After his homily the bishop asks the priests to stand and renew their promises of service and fidelity made at their ordination. The Chrism Mass is one of the fullest signs of the church’s unity as the bishop is surrounded by his priests who are an extension of his ministry in the parishes and they are surrounded by the gathered assembly as the Body of Christ.
The oils are then carried in by individuals who are associated with the use of that particular oil. Normally a member of the St. Dominic pastoral ministry team brings in the oil of the sick. A member of the Elect who will be baptized at the Easter Vigil carries in the oil of catechumens. The oil that will be consecrated as Sacred Chrism is brought up by a seminarian who will be ordained in the upcoming year. The oil for chrism is accompanied by its “essence” which is a perfume poured into the oil.
Bishop Kopacz blesses the oils of sick and catechumens and consecrates the chrism using ancient prayers of the church. Each oil is processed out for distribution into the bottles and boxes. Following the prayer after Communion, the oils are given to representatives of each parish while the litany of the saints is sung.
The representatives then bring the oils back to their parishes for reception at the Mass for the Institution of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday. Many parishes display them in the church in an appropriate location so they may be seen and accessed for sacraments in the parish.
Your gifts through the Catholic Service Appeal provide some very necessary items for the beautiful celebration of the Chrism Mass.
Moreover, your gifts also help the diocesan worship office provide resources throughout the year for pastors, lay ecclesial ministers and liturgical ministers in parishes, including workshops for lectors and extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, answering questions about the bishop’s visit to parishes and helping plan special celebrations such as anniversaries and confirmations.
The diocesan office of worship coordinates all diocesan liturgies at which the bishop is the celebrant and we assist seminarians in planning their ordination liturgies. This year two of our seminarians, Jason Johnston and Joseph Le, will be ordained to the diaconate in separate celebrations.
We appreciate all of your gifts and we put them to good use as we strive to grow and build the prayer life of our diocesan church family. We are all connected to one another through the liturgy. The liturgy is what makes us who we are and what leads us along the path to salvation.
In Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution of the Sacred Liturgy, the Church Fathers write:
“… every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of Christ the priest and of His Body which is the Church, is a sacred action surpassing all others; no other action of the Church can equal its efficacy by the same title and to the same degree.” (SC#7)
Our diocesan worship office works hand in hand with liturgical ministers throughout our diocese to make this vision a reality. Your Catholic Service Appeal gifts are vital to this mission.
(Mary Woodward is the Chancellor for the Diocese of Jackson and the head of the Office of Worship and Liturgy.)

By Austin Vining
Vicksburg Post
VICKSBURG – When Father P. J. Curley asked the members of St. Michael Parish who had been touched by the Sisters of Mercy, more than half of the congregation stood. The Religious Sisters of Mercy have been teaching, nursing and providing religious guidance for the people of Vicksburg, Warren County and Central Mississippi for 155 years.
A reception was held at St. Michael Sunday, March 8, to honor the Sisters of Mercy, and Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs Jr. declared the day as Sisters of Mercy Day. In the official proclamation he resolved the honor be given “for the dedicated, loving and caring women of faith who have committed their lives to God, and have become beacons of light who serve, advocate and pray for those suffering througho

Mayor George Flaggs Jr., right, thanks the Sisters of Mercy (l-r), Sister Fatima Sparks, Sister Robyn Huser and Sister Patricia Parker for their service as Father P.J. Curley looks on. (Photo courtesy of Austin Vining, The Vicksburg Post)

ut the world.” During Flaggs’ proclamation, he told of a time he was blessed by the Sisters of Mercy at the Mercy Hospital. “In 1958 I experienced something life threatening,” he said. “A space heater blew up on me, and I was burned — I thought to death.”
Flaggs said during his stay in the hospital it was the Sisters of Mercy who were the greatest inspiration to him as they came every day and prayed over him. In 1999 the majority of the Sisters of Mercy left the city; however, three remain: Sister Fatima Starks, Sister Patricia Parker and Sister Robyn Huser. Parker and Huser served at Mercy Hospital. One or both of the sisters were there from 1958 until 1986 when the two set out to work on a new ministry serving homeless and chronically ill people in Jackson. The two sisters were also instrumental in establishing three group homes — including one in Vicksburg — for mentally ill homeless.
Starks spent nearly 30 years working with school children in Vicksburg, including four years as principal of St. Francis Xavier Elementary School. As a retiree she now visits schools and nursing homes in Vicksburg. Starks said the ceremony was beautiful. “It was so touching,” she said. “It was a wonderful tribute to our founder, Catherine McAuley.”
Though the local Sisters of Mercy are waning, their work is not forgotten. Laney Seabergh, the local leader of Mercy Associates, said the purpose of Mercy Associates is to carry on the spirit of mercy. The organization is made up of non-vowed laypeople working in education, medicine and other ministries to carry on the work of the Sisters of Mercy.
“We meet once a month to pray, to build our community and to encourage each other in our individual ministries,” she said. Father Curley said there are probably very few people in the community who haven’t been touched by the Sisters of Mercy, whether it be in the schools, in medicine or in their service to the needy. “They do it quietly and inconspicuously,” he said. “That’s why we wanted to honor them here today.” (Reprinted with permission from the Vicksburg Post)

Dr. Gwen Bouie Haynes (left) talks with Natasha Smith during the job search session at Catholic Charities Feb. 26. Smith is in the process of finding a job. (Photos by Elsa Baughman)

By Elsa Baughman
JACKSON – Catholic Charities is looking for veterans who need jobs thanks to a program, funded by the Department of Labor, designed to reintegrate veterans within the community while aiding them in obtaining meaningful job skills and employment within the local job market. Their emphasis is on homeless or formerly homeless veterans.
Lois Bridges, a veteran who served in the Army in 1977 and was once homeless, is working now at Catholic Charities as a case manager with the Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program (HVRP). Bridges said she knows how it feels to be a veteran and homeless. “When an organization like Catholic Charities steps in to help, then you can have hope,” she said. “They are compassionate and are a driving force to assist them to get employment and housing.”
Chamon Williams, coordinator of this program, said Catholic Charities is very proud of providing this service to low income veterans because it meets and unmet need within the community. The Supportive Services for Veterans Families (SSVF), which began last year and is funded by the Veterans Administration, is the second part of the HVRP, also managed by Williams.
Williams said the program’s goal is to assist low income veterans who are seeking employment in developing marketable job skills such as classroom training, occupational skills training, job counseling, interviewing skills, preparing resumes and other referral services.
The program has three case manager locations in   Hinds, Madison and Rankin counties.
Catholic Charities connects both programs, the SSVF and the HVRP, to ensure that low income veterans who seek and obtain employment are also assisted in integrating into society.
LaQuita Johnson, outreach specialist, is in charge of meeting with businesses within the community willing to partner with Catholic Charities to provide employment to these veterans. Some of the business who have partnered so far include Lowe’s, Home Depot, Starkbucks, Mac Construction and the Prosperity Center.
“Everybody wants to help veterans and especially help training them,” said Johnson.
Toni Jenkins, a case manager serving the Rankin County, who is also a veteran, said this is a great program for low income veterans. “It’s so needed. They help in providing everything to them, employment, housing, transportation. Why hasn’t anyone thought about this before?” she asked Thursday, Feb. 26, during a job search session at Catholic Charities.

Several veterans attended one of the job search sessions offered by Catholic Charities on Mondays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. – noon and 1 – 3 p.m. In back center is LaQuita Johnson, outreach specialist, on hand to assist with questions.

Natasha Smith was one of several veterans working with a case manager at the job search workshop. The group was learning how to conduct an online job search.
“It has been a tremendous help,” she noted. The company where she had been working recently went out of business and now she is in the process of looking for another job. She enrolled in the HVRP as soon as she heard about it.
The help she has received from the HVRP program  includes transportation, information and resources. “I would not have had a chance to have all these services anywhere else,” she said, adding “. . . being here and able to use this service and talk with these case managers prepares me to find a job.”
She also received assistance writing her very first resumé and with her interviewing skills.
Dr. Gwen Bouie Haynes, director of adult services at Catholic Charities, said Catholic Charities is in need of businesses, agencies, parishes and other companies to partner with to help find jobs for these veterans.
Other supportive services for very low income veterans to promote housing stability include child care, basic home repairs and personal financial planning.
The HVRP manager in Hinds County is Lois Bridges, 769-798-7902, in Madison County Annie Jones, 769-572-1371, and in Rankin County Toni Jenkins, 769-572-2731.
The case manager for the SSVFT program in the Jackson office is Chamon Williams, in Greenwood Melissa Ivory, in Natchez Cynthia McCrary-Jackson and in Vardaman and Jackson Kimberle Neal.
For more information about these two programs or to offer jobs for veterans in the programs, call Catholic Charities, 601-355-8634.