PARISH, FAMILY & SCHOOL EVENTS
BROOKHAVEN – St. Francis, Easter Egg Hunt and Photos, Sunday, March 31 following 9 a.m. Mass. Details: church office (601) 833-1799.

FLOWOOD – St. Paul, Easter Egg Hunt, Sunday, March 24 after 10:30 a.m. Mass. Details: church office (601) 992-9547.

HERNANDO – Holy Spirit, Easter Egg Hunt, Sunday, March 24 at 11:45 a.m. Hunts by age group (0-3; 4-6; 7-10). Lunch provided and prizes awarded. Details: church office (662) 429-7851.

JACKSON – St. Richard, Bereavement group, “The River of Grief,” Thursday, March 14 at 6 p.m. in the Mercy room. Speaker: Claudia Addison. Details: Nancy at (601) 942-2078 or email ncmcghee@bellsouth.net.

St. Richard School, Flight to the Finish 5k and Fun Run, Saturday, April 20 at 9 a.m. Details: Visit website for more info and to register at https://runsignup.com/Race/MS/Jackson/FlighttotheFinish.

JACKSON – Sister Thea Bowman School, Annual Draw Down, Saturday, April 27 at 6:30 p.m. in the multi-purpose building. Grand prize $5,000; tickets $100 (admits 2), second chance insurance $20. Enjoy great food, entertainment, silent auction, door prizes and more. Casual attire. Details: contact Shae at (601) 351-5197 or stbdrawdown@gmail.com.

MADISON – St. Francis, Luella and Floyd Q. Doolittle Golf Tournament, Saturday, April 15 at Whisper Lake Country Club. Information and registration form available at https://stfrancismadison.org/knights-of-columbus. Details: Tunney at (601) 622-4145 or tunneyv1@icloud.com.

NATCHEZ – St. Mary Basilica, St. Patrick’s Parade, Saturday, March 16, gather at 5:30 p.m. at Memorial Park, walking parade begins at 6 p.m. Details: email kreweofkillarney@gmail.com.

OLIVE BRANCH – Queen of Peace, Easter Egg Hunt, Saturday, March 23 at 10 a.m. Details: church office (662) 895-5007.

STARKVILLE – St. Joseph, Spring Trivia Night, Thursday, April 11 at 6:30 p.m. Cost: $20/person or $10/student (college undergrad or under) Details: email ben.bachman@gmail.com for reservations. Tables seat up to 8 participants.

VICKSBURG – VCS Annual Alumni banquet, Saturday, April 6, 5:30 p.m. Mass at St. Michael, with 6:30 p.m. social and 7 p.m. banquet at the Levee Street Warehouse. Honorary classes include Class of 1974 and 2024. Guest Speaker: George Valadie. Details: register to attend at https://www.vicksburgcatholic.org/apps/page/alumni.

SPIRITUAL ENRICHMENT
BATESVILLE – St. Mary, Lenten Parish Mission, Wednesday, March 20 and 21, with dinner from 5-5:45 p.m. and Mission at 6 p.m. Details: church office (662) 563-2273.

BROOKHAVEN – St. Francis, Parish Lenten Mission, March 18 and 19 from 6-8 p.m. Gifts of the Holy Spirit presented by Father Bill Henry. Details: church office (601) 833-1799.

GREENWOOD – St. Francis, Revival with Father Anthony Bozeman, SSJ, April 8-9 at 6 p.m. Details: church office (662) 453-0623.

NATCHEZ – 2nd annual Believe Conference, April 19-21, 2024. Featured speakers are Anne Trufant, Catholic speaker and founder of The Mission on the Mountain; Barbara Heil, founder of From His Heart Ministries; and Joanne Moody, minister author, and founder of Agape Freedom Fighters. Cost: $100 for weekend; $50 for students. Lunch included on Saturday. Details: visit https://www.themissiononthemountain.com.

SOUTHAVEN – Christ the King, “Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist,” Thursdays, April 4, 18, 25; May 2, 9, 16, 23, 30; and June 6 from 6:30-8 p.m. How do these Jewish roots help us, to understand his real presence in the Eucharist? Facilitator is Don Coker. Details: church office (662) 342-1073.

Christ the King, Lenten Lunch and Learn, Saturday, March 16 at 11 a.m. Topic: Conversations Overheard by the Cross. RSVP by Sunday, March 10. Details: church office (662) 693-1321.
TUPELO – St. James, Lenten Parish Mission – “How Faith Changes Us,” March 17-19 with Father Xavier Raj. Details: church office (662) 842-4881.

COLLIERVILLE, Tenn. – Women’s Morning of Spirituality, Saturday, April 13 at Catholic Church of the Incarnation (360 Bray Station Road). Continental breakfast in the gym at 7:15 a.m; Program begins in Sanctuary at 8:15 a.m.; Mass at 12:15 p.m. Opportunities for Adoration, Reconciliation, Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet. Details: church office (901) 441-6157.

JOB OPENING
JACKSON – The Department of Faith Formation is looking for a full-time administrative assistant. The successful candidate will provide administrative assistance exercising quality pastoral skills for those in pastoral and formational ministry in the Diocese of Jackson. Details: 3-5 years’ experience in an administrative role providing direct support to a multicultural intergenerational department. Understanding basic accounting a plus. High school diploma or GED required; completion of college degree in business preferred. Contact fran.lavelle@jacksondiocese.org with questions or for full job description. Send a cover letter and resume no later than March 11, 2024.

TRAVEL
“SPIRIT OF IRELAND AND SCOTLAND” WITH FATHER O’CONNOR – Join Father David O’Connor on a trip to Ireland and Scotland, June 8-17. Itinerary includes: flight to Dublin, two nights in Belfast, ferry to Scotland, two nights in Glasgow, Inverness and Edinburgh and return flight from Edinburg. Travel in a luxury coach from arrival time until departure, a professional driver/guide, 4-star hotels. Tour highlights include City of Belfast, Titanic, historic and architectural sites, wonderful landscapes and lakes of the Scottish highlands, Scottish food and entertainment. Cost: $4,955 (per person sharing) or $5,950 single. Only a few spots left! For more information/reservations contact Cara Group Travel at (617) 639-0273 or email bookings@caragrouptravel.com.

IRELAND AND SCOTLAND WITH FATHER AUGUSTINE – Join Father Augustine on a trip to Ireland and Scotland, Sept. 6-18. Trip includes stops in Galway, Our Lady of Knock, Cliffs of Moher, Killarney, Dingle Peninsula, Dublin, Edinburgh and St. Andrew’s Cathedral. Cost: $5,499 – all inclusive, including airfare. To register, contact Proximo Travel at (855) 842-8001 or visit www.proximotravel.com.

By Staff Reports
OXFORD – Holy water hit Swayze field the first Friday of February when Father Mark Shoffner blessed the field for the upcoming season.

Head Coach Mike Bianco invited his pastor Father Shoffner of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Oxford to pray for the upcoming season.

“Blessings can be bestowed upon people and all manner of objects,” said Alexandra Barfield, campus minister for St. John the Evangelist.

Last year, after a difficult run, Father Shoffner blessed the field, and the Rebels had a winning home tournament.

“Blessings aren’t magical,” said Barfield, “but a petition to God for the good things that He gives.”

The video of the blessing has been viewed 50,000 times, reaching over 33,000 people.
The introduction to the blessing reads, “God has given us our physical powers in order that we may serve him joyously, help one another, and, by discipline in accord with the law of God, make our body fit for every good work.

“God therefore approves of sport for the relaxation of the mind and the exercise of the body. Care of our bodies fosters mental well-being, and we more readily establish friendly and affable relations with other people,” it continues.

Read more coverage:
https://olemiss.rivals.com/news/i-mean-it-couldn-t-hurt-local-pastor-blesses-ole-miss-baseball-stadium?fbclid=IwAR2oW-NTeOve0wsAdDN_6sllzLkMvUGYu0ICqf_NKhNeDWQgwKr2JJ-7Q9Y

View the video:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3BhMAXNIKd/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

About: Catholic Campus Ministry is at the service of the students at the University of Mississippi. CCM is a Registered Student Organization associated with St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Oxford, Mississippi. Alexandra Barfield serves the students as campus minister under the direction of St. John’s priest and pastor Father Mark Shoffner.

By Galen Holley
NEW ALBANY – The theological term “domestic church” expresses well the genesis of St. Francis of Assisi Parish, which began as a modest gathering of Catholics who met in their homes and were ministered to by missionary circuit priests.

In 1922, E.W. Viola, and Dorothy Kelso moved from Jackson, Tennessee, to New Albany, in order to open a bakery. That’s when the first Catholic community began to take shape. Because there was no church in New Albany, the Kelsos had to drive to Oxford or Tupelo for Mass. That changed when an Irish priest, Father Patrick Moran, became pastor of the already established St. Patrick Parish in Water Valley. He also assumed responsibility for St. Patrick’s missionary district, which, among 11 counties, included New Albany.

The fledgling Catholic community celebrated the first Mass in Union County in the fall of 1938. It was in the Kelsos’ home, at 357 Garfield Street, with Father Moran as celebrant. The faithful used a portable altar, about the size of a card table. Dorothy Kelso joked that the table and furnishings were so modest, that, as she put it, “We often thought that only a prayer held it up.” Those present at the first Mass included Viola and Dorothy Kelso, Tom Bonner, a Mr. Flanagan, Mrs. John Tilly and her daughter, Margaret Ellen, and Mrs. Edith Stone.

The following year the center of the missionary circuit shifted from Water Valley to St. John’s in Oxford, and Father Cletus Manon became responsible for making the rounds and celebrating Mass in people’s homes.

Under Father Manon’s leadership, the New Albany Catholics (consisting of less than 20 adults) built their first, physical church on Cleveland Street. Bishop Richard Gerow bought the land in 1948, and the construction was made possible by aid from the Extension Society, along with private donations, including those from Mr. and Mrs. Frank Lewis, as well as Dr. Palmer Patterson, and volunteer labor, as from the Milton DeNault family. St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church was dedicated on June 19, 1949, by Archbishop William O’Brien of the Extension Society. The first child to be baptized at St. Francis was a young man named Robert Thomas, in 1950.

St. Francis continued as a mission of St. John’s in Oxford, and throughout the years the Sisters of Mercy taught vacation Bible school, and later, Franciscan Sisters from Holly Springs headed educational endeavors. For 10 years, Sacred Heart priests from St. Joseph Parish in Holly Springs served as pastors at St. Francis.

In 1965 it was announced that the small community of St. Christopher’s in Pontotoc would be linked to St. Francis, under the leadership of the Cincinnati based Glenmary Home Missioners. Father Bob Rademacher became the first Glenmarian to pastor both the New Albany and Pontotoc churches in 1967.

Rademacher was a robust, hands-on man, and he continued the tradition of visiting families, celebrating Mass in members’ homes, and maintaining close ties with the rural community. He was even known to help farming families harvest crops.

In October of 1986 the congregation purchased the land on which the church now stands, on Highway 15.

By the late 1990’s many Catholics had begun arriving from Latin America, primarily from Mexico. Mississippi had not experienced an influx of native Catholics like that since the Irish arrived in the early part of the 20th century. Like the Irish, Hispanic Catholics brought with them folk customs, liturgical traditions, and valuable cultural symbols, perhaps none more sacred than the Virgin of Guadalupe. Their contributions enriched and deepened the Catholic heritage at St. Francis and gave members a good perspective on the universality of the Catholic faith.

Glenmary priest, Father Will Steinbacher was pastor when the present sanctuary was built in 1993. He spoke about the intentional choice of architecture. “We chose the design to symbolize arms, reaching into and embracing the community,” said Father Will.

Steinbacher spoke glowingly of the Kelso family, having once humorously referred to Dorothy as “the bishop” as well as of the other hardworking people who built the community. True to the Glenmary spirit, and in perfect agreement with the life of St. Francis, Father Will recalled the creation of the Good Samaritan Center as one of the highlights of his time in New Albany. The Good Samaritan Center is an inter-faith, non-profit that helps meet the emergency needs of the poor.

Father Steve Pawelk followed Steinbacher as the pastor in 1993. Pawelk, a Minnesota native, oversaw many of the developments with which younger parishioners are familiar. Pawelk started the Spanish Mass, as well as overseeing the church paying off its debt for the sanctuary and rectory. He was a member of the Board of Directors at New Albany’s Boys and Girls Club and worked vigorously in ecumenical efforts.
Pawelk spoke warmly about his time in New Albany. “St. Francis will always have a special place in my heart,” said Pawelk. “This was my first pastorate. During this time the parish grew with new converts, people moving in and with the beginning of the Spanish Mass. We had a wonderful youth group. Part of my heart will always be there.”

Father Xavier Jesuraj took over as pastor in February 2016, and he has worked hard to learn Spanish as his third language in order to serve the flourishing Hispanic community, while also honoring the Anglo traditions that were there from the church’s inception.

The welcoming spirit upon which it was founded still abides today in the congregation of St. Francis of Assisi, as together in Christ, they continue their seventh decade of worship.

St. Francis New Albany celebrates 70th anniversary (2019)

ST. CATHARINE, Ken. – Dominican Sister of Peace Barbara Ann Fava, OP (87), a native of Greenville, Mississippi, died on Feb. 8, 2024, at Sansbury Care Center, St. Catharine, Kentucky. Sister Barbara is survived by two sisters, Annette Willis (Lynn, Massachusetts) and Paula Fava (Brandon, Mississippi), and several nieces and nephews.

A Dominican for 63 years, Sister Barbara earned a Bachelor of Arts in Social Studies/English/Education from Siena College (Memphis); a Master of Arts in Theology from Catherine Spalding College (Louisville, Kentucky) and a Master of Arts in History from Memphis State University (Memphis). She ministered as a teacher at St. Dominic (Springfield, Kentucky); St. Joseph (Mattoon, Illinois); Bishop Donahue High (McMechen, West Virginia); Owensboro Catholic (Owensboro, Kentucky); St. Catharine Academy (St. Catharine, Kentucky) and as an instructor at St. Catharine College. Sister also served as parish and campus minister at St. Clare Parish (Berea, Kentucky) and Memphis State University Catholic Center. In 1993, Sister Barbara taught adult education (GED classes) in Marks, Mississippi until 2002. Sister returned to St. Catharine Motherhouse (Kentucky) where she began the ministry of Dominican coordinator at Sansbury Care Center. She held this position from 2002 until 2012. Beginning in 2013, Sister Barbara spent several years at Springbank Retreat Center (Kingstree, South Carolina) where she served on the staff and assisted with the retreat programs on a part-time basis until 2022.

Early 2024, Sister Barbara moved to Sansbury Care Center (St. Catharine, Kentucky) where she began a ministry of prayer and presence.

A funeral for Sister Barbara was held on Tuesday, Feb. 20, at Sansbury Care Center Chapel, with burial in the St. Catharine Motherhouse cemetery.

Memorial gifts in Sister Barbara’s memory may be sent to Dominican Sisters of Peace, Office of Mission Advancement, 2320 Airport Dr., Columbus, OH 43219-2098. To make a secure online donation or to view a full obituary, please visit www.oppeace.org