The dedication of clergy like Father Jeffrey Waldrep, a priest of our diocese for over 34 years, and the critical support provided through programs like the Catholic Service Appeal (CSA) highlight the profound importance of caring for our priests who have devoted their lives to serving others. Ensuring that retired and active priests have access to comprehensive healthcare and assistance honors their commitment and strengthens the communities they serve.
Clergy Healthcare: A Vital Priority Father Jeffrey underscores the importance of comprehensive healthcare provided to diocesan priests, especially retirees like Father Sam Messina. Father Jeffrey said, “Now that I oversee Father Sam’s care, I had no idea of the costs of staying on top of a retired priest’s every day and long-term healthcare needs.” The CSA allocates $400,000 to support this effort, ensuring that priests like Father Sam receive essential care.
Clergy Assistance: Beyond Healthcare In addition to supplementing clergy healthcare needs, the $400,000 also supplements other forms of clergy assistance. One of the substantial needs is keeping up with documentation for our foreign priests faithfully serving in our diocese. Father Jeffrey noted, “It can get substantially costly and tedious keeping up with the latest documentation the US requires from different countries our foreign priests have originated from.” Clergy Assistance also extends to helping some of our retired priests with living expenses, a vital aspect of their care.
A Call to Action By contributing to the CSA, Father Jeffrey invites donors to actively participate in this mission of care and gratitude. The appeal is not merely a request for financial support but an invitation to join in expressing appreciation for our clergy’s lifelong service. The impact is heard every time Father Sam tells Father Jeffrey, “Thank you for taking care of me.” Father Jeffrey stated, “Supporting the initiatives of CSA allows us to give back to those who have given so much. It is an opportunity to ensure that the physical, emotional and practical needs of our priests are met, enabling us to continue our mission with dignity and peace of mind.”
From the Archives By Mary Woodward When I think back about my 12 years in the Jackson Public Schools, I remember the many classmates and teachers who were a part of my education. I began the first grade when JPS implemented integration completely.
In the third grade, Harry Reasoner of 60 Minutes visited my classroom at Power Elementary. His crew filmed us all morning and he talked to us about integration and how well it was going in JPS. Apparently, we were a model school district because people from around the world would visit to see how we did it. I guess people were expecting riots as in previous situations, but that did not happen. [We did have the occasional bomb threat, but that allowed us to go outside and run around for an hour while the school got looked over.] And so, we got to meet Harry Reasoner, and our classroom was showcased on a national broadcast for a total of 15 seconds.
MOBILE, Ala. – Principals of Catholic Schools across the Diocese of Jackson enjoy some downtime at the annual principals retreat hosted by the Office of Catholic Education in Mobile, Alabama. (Photo from archives)
The last week of January our diocese celebrated Catholic Schools Week in unison with dioceses all over the country. Each school has special activities which were highlighted in Mississippi Catholic’s last issue. The week highlights all the wonderful educational and growth opportunities available in our Catholic schools.
I received a quality education in JPS, and I learned much about academic topics as well as how to thrive in a diverse environment, but one thing that was lacking was faith formation. Outside of the history teacher who taught Moses and the 10 Amendments to some of my classmates, and my eighth-grade teacher who made us read bible stories on Fridays, the public schools did not offer faith-centered curriculum. That was for Sunday or Saturday, whatever your faith tradition might be.
The uniqueness of our Catholic schools is the curriculum incorporates a grounding in Christian values that reflect the rich tradition of our church. The very atmosphere of a Catholic school exudes an essence of faith, hope and love, which happens to be this year’s theme for our Catholic schools.
Very early in the history of our diocese, the bishops established Catholic schools and other educational opportunities for the local communities. Our first bishop, John Joseph Chanche, established a school for slave children in the basement of the church. So, Catholic faith-based education has deep roots in our state.
Those who serve in our Catholic schools as principals, teachers, administrators, counsellors, maintenance workers, cafeteria personnel, etc. are all a part of passing on our beautiful faith in an atmosphere of respect and learning. And those serving in our Office of Catholic Education (OCE) at the diocesan level – Karla Luke, executive director, Virginia Hollingsworth, director of curriculum, and Rachel Patterson, administrative assistant – are true heroes of faith-based learning who support and inspire our school personnel to form our young people.
This week the OCE hosted its annual retreat and development for Catholic school principals from around the diocese. The retreat, directed by Dr. Fran Lavelle, director of the diocesan faith formation office, was held in Mobile, Ala. The Catholic Schools Office for the Archdiocese of Mobile arranged visits to several of their schools for our administrators.
I tagged along to recommend various sites to see and restaurants to enjoy plus host a breakfast for them on the last day. I was so impressed by the spirit and camaraderie among these dedicated individuals who have a passion for serving the church and working with young people and children. It takes a very special person to be a teacher and even more special to be a principal.
They have an awesome responsibility to be beacons of faith, hope and love in the midst of a sometimes chaotic climate. They must be pillars of strength when the world becomes big and scary. They deal with irate parents, state guidelines and bratty kids all while putting on the face of a compassionate leader and professional servant.
For all of you with children in our long-standing and historic Catholic schools system, how blessed you are to have such a nurturing environment for your children. Pray for the school and all who serve there selflessly so that your child can receive a well-rounded, faith-filled education designed to assist them in achieving their highest potential and growing into the person God called them to be.
That is an awesome responsibility to put on someone’s shoulders – to be a guide in God’s unfolding plan for another. So, to all those who were in Mobile this week, who have returned renewed in the noble mission of being a Catholic school principal, thank you! You are heroes of the faith, planting seeds of faith, hope and love in the hearts of our young people.
(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson.)
By Joanna King JACKSON – The Diocese of Jackson joyfully honored the anniversaries of married couples from across the diocese with two special Masses, celebrated by Bishop Joseph Kopacz. The first Mass took place on Saturday, Feb. 1, at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle in Jackson, followed by a second celebration on Sunday, Feb. 9, at St. James in Tupelo. These gatherings brought together couples of all ages to celebrate the sacred bond of marriage and their commitment to one another through the years.
Debbie Tubertini, coordinator for the Office of Family Ministry, explained that the decision to hold two Masses was made to better accommodate couples in different regions of the diocese. By offering celebrations in both the northern and central areas of the state, more couples had the opportunity to participate in this special recognition of their enduring love and faith.
JACKSON – Couples from around the Diocese of Jackson celebrated World Marriage Day at the Cathedral of St. Peter on Saturday, Feb. 1. (Photos by Madelyn Johnson)
World Marriage Day has a rich history, tracing its roots to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where in 1981, a group of couples encouraged their local leaders – including the Mayor, the Governor, and the Bishop – to proclaim St. Valentine’s Day as “We Believe in Marriage Day.” The idea quickly gained momentum, and in 1993, Pope St. John Paul II imparted his Apostolic blessing upon World Marriage Day, solidifying its place as an international celebration. Today, the event continues to spread across the globe, embracing different faith traditions and cultural expressions, all in recognition of the beauty and importance of marriage.
During the World Marriage Day celebrations in the Diocese of Jackson, couples were honored with a special anniversary certificate, blessed and signed by Bishop Kopacz. These certificates serve as a meaningful keepsake, commemorating their years of love, commitment and faith. The ceremonies also provided an opportunity for couples to renew their vows in the presence of family, friends and fellow parishioners, reaffirming their dedication to one another and to God.
The diocese extends heartfelt congratulations to all the couples who participated in this year’s celebrations. Whether newlyweds or those marking decades of marriage, each couple serves as a witness to the enduring power of love and the grace of the sacrament of matrimony.
Please join us in celebrating and praying for these special couples, that their love may continue to grow and inspire others for years to come.
65 Years Maurice & Barbara Roy Ronald & Sandra Wojcik
63 Years Stephen & Linda Smith
62 Years James & Ella Kimbrell Stephen & Linda Smith
61 Years The late Junius & Barbara Clark Dennis & Virginia McDaniel George & Anita Souderes
60 Years Dickie & Pat Junkin Cliff & Pat Stein
56 Years Tom & Becky Corkern
55 Years Gregory & Carolyn Victoriano 53 Years Daniel & Sally Dare
51 Years Robert & Patricia Barber Michael & Sharron Scheel
50 Years Vincent & Laveria Green Alan & Laurissa Henderson Charles & Karen Hill Jason & Margot Orman Arnold & Cathy Landry Carroll & Debra LeBlanc Duncan & Cathy Mansell Denson & Mary Etta Robinson Hank & Jackie Smith Norman & Marlene Williams
40 Years Peter & Sherra Arnold Terry & Deborah Bergin Paul & Laura Burns Anthony & Renee’ Carpenter Zoffee & Sandra Dahmash Frank & Patty Davis Henry & Marla Farmer Gary & Carolyn Guido Ron & Ann Porter Allen & Beth Richard Jeffrey & Carol Wadlington
30 Years Edward & Lilia Alba Enrique & Carolina Amador Craig & Leigh Anne Bertelsen Walt & LaShon Brown Paul & Marybeth Dawes Basil & Colleen Demarest José & Maribel Martinez Stacy & Patricia McKay Eddie and Brenda Panteria Eddie & Margaret Stutzman
25 Years David & Patricia Cavin William & Erica Chisholm III Jason & Kerri Dare Jeremy & Caroline Erwin John & Amy Hornback Chris & Joni House Hermilo & Cristina Lira Chris & Emily Maxwell David & Bridgette Moore Fred & Jeanne Setzer Ronnie & Mindy Smith Rafael & Monica Valdepena Chris & Amanda Williams
Other Carrie & David Haadsma – 44 years Jose Luis & Ma. Concepcion Segura – 42 years Eloy & Gloria Hernandez – 42 years Phillip & Colleen Ray – 38 years Mike & Angela Massey – 37 years Byron & Lillian Trahan– 37 years Paul & Michelle Harkins – 39 years Gary & Sheila Carver – 36 years Jeff & Christi Houin – 35 years Ken & Mimi Cash – 32 years Marc & Lainie Anthony – 31 years Guillermo Benitez & Lidia Serrano – 31 years Shane & Nina Hoang– 31 years Todd & SuzAnne Liddell – 31 years Ted & Raquel Thompson – 29 years Reynaldo & Aracely Acosta – 28 years Shane & Ann Sanders – 28 years Leo & Glenda Bautista – 24 years Noel & Matilde Benavides – 24 years Jai & Lori Eschete – 24 year Augusto & Olga Soltero – 21 years Alejandro & Katya Cruz – 18 years Martín & María Mariela Martinez – 17 years German & Natali Flores – 15 years Gabriel & Luz María Gonzalez – 15 years Tam & Lucy Nguyen – 15 years Francisco & Yolanda Aguilar – 9 years Javier & Kathya Candanedo – 5 years
MERIDIAN – St. Patrick kindergarten students have been learning about the sacrament of baptism. Pictured: Father Augustine Palimattam, center, explains baptism to St. Patrick School kindergarten students on Tuesday, Jan. 14. (Photo by Helen Reynolds)CLARKSDALE – (Right) Bishop Kopacz asked each deanery to designate at least one church to serve as a dedicated pilgrimage site for the Jubilee Year of Hope. On his word, deanery four selected St. Elizabeth Church and St. Joseph in Holly Springs. On Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, the parishioners of St. Elizabeth braved the cold weather for a beautiful liturgy outside the church doors, dedicating St. Elizabeth for this purpose. Pilgrims will be eligible to receive a holy year plenary indulgence by visiting, participating in Mass or adoration, praying for the intentions of the Holy Father, and receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation within eight days of visiting the pilgrimage site church. St. Elizabeth is honored and blessed to serve in this way and welcomes all pilgrims to visit and participate in Mass and/or adoration. Weekend Mass times are Saturdays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 10:30 a.m. Daily Mass is offered Tuesday-Friday and adoration on Wednesdays. Please visit stelizabethclarksdale.org for details and times. (Photo by Catelin Britt)HOLLY SPRINGS – Holy Family Students listened intently as Sacred Heart Southern Missions’ Food Coordinator Ralph Howard and Director of Administration Carla Crockett answered questions about their work in the community. (Photo by Laura Grisham)SOUTHAVEN – During Sacred Heart School’s grandparents program, first grader Riley Burks gets a hug from her grandmother after lighting a candle together as a reminder of the light that our grandparents bring to our lives. (Photo by Laura Grisham)JACKSON – St. Richard School sixth graders – Holt Wright, Anthony Ramsey, Eli Williams and Judah Hill – visited the St. Richard ELC for story time during Catholic Schools Week. This was in celebration and thanks to our Community. St. Richard School values every piece of our “community.” The toddlers at the ELC and St. Richard students were able to really interact with one another and had a wonderful time together. (Photo by Celeste Saucier)MACON – Youth from around the diocese gathered at Lake Forest Ranch in Macon on Jan. 25-26 for the annual High School Confirmation Retreat coordinated by the Department of Faith Formation. Pictured are youth from Crystal Springs roasting s’mores over a bonfire. (Photo by Yvette Howard)STARKVILLE – College students from across the diocese gathered for a day of fellowship, prayer and more at the “Embracing Joy” winter retreat held at St. Joseph Church in Starkville on Saturday, Feb. 1. (Photo by Amelia Rizor)MACON – Youth engaged in various activities to strengthen their faith throughout the Confirmation Retreat weekend Jan. 25-26 at Lake Forest Ranch. Pictured are youth from St. James Tupelo, among others fully engaged in their faith. (Photo by Michelle Harkins)
By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D. The Jubilee Year of Hope is well underway, a year of favor from the Lord in which Pope Francis is encouraging and challenging us to be Pilgrims of Hope. What is a pilgrim anyway?
Over 40 years ago in the early years of my priesthood I participated in a biblical study tour to the Holy Lands and Rome to experience firsthand the earthly life of Jesus, the beginning of the church in Jerusalem, and its growth in Rome. In preparation for this three-week spiritual adventure the leader reminded all participating priests that we are undertaking this trip as pilgrims, not tourists. Most of us heard the call for pilgrimage and packed simply, except for one in the group who took along a large empty suitcase for souvenirs.
Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
Later this year the Diocese of Jackson will sponsor a pilgrimage to Rome that will include passing through the Holy Door of one of the four major Basilicas. We will see ourselves as pilgrims for these ten days, all the while keeping in mind that the Holy Father is exhorting us to be pilgrims of hope in heart and mind as an enduring and defining state of life. How? One of the prophets of old illuminates for us the path of pilgrims. “You have been told, o mortal, what is good and what the Lord requires of you: to do justice, to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8) It’s a way of being in this world that overcomes and transcends all who cast their shadows over the light of faith, the power of hope and the primacy of love. As pilgrims we are called to touch lightly on this earth, not in a superficial manner, but in a way that inspires us to understand that to walk upon this earth is a miracle.
I am writing this column on the 11th anniversary of my consecration and installation as the 11th bishop of the Diocese of Jackson. Applying the lens of Pilgrims of Hope I have experienced my episcopal ministry at its core as pilgrimage, journeying to many holy sites, i.e. our parishes, schools and ministries, and back again to the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle. In ordinary and extraordinary moments, in season and out of season, my life is filled with encounters with the sacred. Recognizing this gift is the key. Each of us in has to do the personal work to “stir into flame” (2Timothy 1:6) our baptismal call to be alive and active as the Lord’s anointed and pilgrims of hope. Our identity as God’s children flourishes through prayer, through the sacraments, through works of justice and goodness accomplished in a spirit of humility. When we fix our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:12) “each of us may be able to offer a smile, a small gesture of friendship, a kind look, a ready ear, a good deed, in the knowledge that, in the Spirit of Jesus, these can become, for those who receive them, rich seeds of hope.” (Jubilee Document)
As this edition of Mississippi Catholic circulates throughout the diocese, I will be in India for my second pastoral visit to this amazing country from where we have 15 priests serving in our diocese. Truly, this is a pastoral visit to spend time with the bishops and provincial who have priests on mission in the Diocese of Jackson. But at its core it is a pilgrimage to many holy sites and ministries in the land where St. Thomas the Apostle first proclaimed the Gospel.
Wherever we are in this world, St. Paul reminds us that in the end “our citizenship is in heaven.” Yet, the journey begins here and the blessing and challenge is to see this world as God sees it, and to accompany one another as pilgrims with an abiding concern for justice, goodness and solidarity for all.
By Kate Scanlon WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The White House Jan. 28 sought to clarify what would and would not be impacted by a directive to freeze federal financial assistance programs and suggested it would seek to strip federal funds from nongovernmental organizations including Catholic Charities as part of its effort to enforce its immigration policies.
Catholic Charities USA urged the Trump administration to reconsider the freeze of the funds in a Jan. 28 statement. A judge temporarily blocked the freeze the same day.
The White House budget office ordered a pause on all federal grants and loans, which could impact trillions of dollars in government spending and halt public programs that affect millions of Americans, according to a memo from that office. These orders could impact Catholic entities that rely on such grants.
Migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. walk into a temporary humanitarian respite center run by Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley in McAllen, Texas, April 8, 2021. (CNS photo/Go Nakamura, Reuters)
In her debut press briefing as White House press secretary Jan. 28, Karoline Leavitt said “this is not a blanket pause on federal assistance in grant programs from the Trump administration,” arguing “individual assistance” will not be impacted, listing “Social Security benefits, Medicare benefits, food stamps, welfare benefits” as examples.
“It is the responsibility of this president and this administration to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” she said, arguing the directive was to combat “wokeness” running afoul of Trump’s other executive orders on topics including diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
But questions remain about how the White House will define “assistance provided directly to individuals,” as indicated in the memo. Illinois and other states were cut off from the portal that is used to request and manage Medicaid spending, the office of that state’s Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, said.
The White House confirmed the outage, with Leavitt writing on social media that they are “aware of the Medicaid website portal outage,” but said it would soon be available.
“We have confirmed no payments have been affected – they are still being processed and sent,” she said. “We expect the portal will be back online shortly.”
Leavitt was asked about the impact on organizations like Meals on Wheels, which is funded in part by the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) program, to deliver meals to homebound seniors, rather than the grant funds going directly to the seniors themselves.
“It does not affect individual assistance that’s going to Americans,” she replied.
Elsewhere in the briefing, Leavitt was asked if Trump “intended to permanently cut off funding to NGOs that are bringing illegal foreign nationals to the country, such as Catholic Charities?”
“I am actually quite certain that the president signed an executive order that did just that,” she said. Kerry Alys Robinson, president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, issued a statement that did not reference the exchange in the White House briefing room but defended the work of her organization.
“Last year, 92 percent of the services provided by the 168 independent Catholic Charities agencies around the country covered basic needs – access to food, housing, health care and other necessities – for families and individuals struggling to get by,” Robinson said. “These vital services include food pantries for those who can’t afford groceries, childcare programs for low-income families, meal deliveries for homebound seniors, job training resources for veterans, temporary and permanent housing, mental health services and much more.”
The millions of Americans “who rely on this life-giving support,” she added, “will suffer due to the unprecedented effort to freeze federal aid supporting these programs.”
“The people who will lose access to crucial care are our neighbors and family members,” Robinson said. “They live in every corner of the country and represent all races, religions and political affiliations.”
“For more than a century, the Catholic Charities network has worked with the government to care for poor and vulnerable people in every community in the U.S., and we continue to be eager to work with government to care for our neighbors in need. We strongly urge the administration to rethink this decision,” she continued.
The group also urged its supporters to contact their congressional representatives.
OSV News has reached out to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and is awaiting a response. Both CCUSA and the USCCB have said they abide by the law in their work with migrants and refugees.
In a Jan. 26 statement, issued hours after Vice President JD Vance questioned the motives of the U.S. bishops’ criticism of President Donald Trump’s new immigration policies in an interview that aired that morning, the USCCB said, “Faithful to the teaching of Jesus Christ, the Catholic Church has a long history of serving refugees.”
“In 1980, the bishops of the United States began partnering with the federal government to carry out this service when Congress created the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP),” the statement said. “Every person resettled through USRAP is vetted and approved for the program by the federal government while outside of the United States. In our agreements with the government, the USCCB receives funds to do this work; however, these funds are not sufficient to cover the entire cost of these programs. Nonetheless, this remains a work of mercy and ministry of the church.”
(Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.)
By Maria Wiering (OSV News) – “Let me say very simply: I want more babies in the United States of America,” Vice President JD Vance told a cheering crowd at the 52nd National March for Life Jan. 24.
“I want more happy children in our country, and I want beautiful young men and women who are eager to welcome them into the world and eager to raise them,” he said. “And it is the task of our government to make it easier for young moms and dads to afford to have kids, to bring them into the world, and to welcome them as the blessings that we know they are, here at the March for Life.”
In his first public appearance following Inauguration Day, Vance was the final speaker at the annual march’s two-hour rally preceding attendees’ walk from the Washington Monument grounds to the U.S. Supreme Court Building. Other speakers included Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. It is the first time both leaders of Congress’s chambers attended a March for Life.
Students from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, hold the March for Life banner outside the U.S. Supreme Court during the annual March for Life in Washington Jan. 24, 2025. (OSV News photo/Elizabeth Frantz, Reuters)
While most speakers – policymakers and pro-life advocates – spoke specifically about making abortion “illegal and unthinkable” in post-Dobbs America, Vance championed a pro-family vision that not only rejected abortion, but also supported raising children. Noting his own three young children, Vance, who is Catholic, said, “The task of our movement is to protect innocent life. It’s to defend the unborn; and it’s also to be pro-family and pro-life in the fullest sense of that word possible.”
As in years past, the march drew tens of thousands, many of them young adults. Some traveled more than a day on buses, missing high school and college classes to join others along the National Mall in the mid-Atlantic cold.
The 2025 march also commemorated a leadership change for the event’s organization, with longtime president Jeanne Mancini handing off her role to March for Life’s incoming president, Jennie Bradley Lichter. While Mancini emceed the 2025 march, both women spoke, with Bradley Lichter also introducing Vance.
The march was founded to protest Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in all 50 states. That decision was overturned in 2022 with the court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, thus returning abortion policy to lawmakers. At the rally, March for Life leaders addressed the march’s role in the changed abortion landscape, with abortion laws now varying widely by state. The march, they insisted, must continue.
“Today we affirm that the pro-life generation will not rest until every single abortion facility in our nation closes its door for good. We will march until every child is protected by federal law, until abortion is unthinkable, and until every pregnant woman receives excellent prenatal care,” said Hannah Lape, president of Wheaton College Voice for Life. Her group carried the 2025 march’s iconic banner.
The march came four days after President Donald Trump was sworn in for his second term, following a campaign that disappointed many pro-life advocates in certain respects. Trump was hailed for pro-life actions during his first term. Since then, he reversed support for a federal abortion ban, stating he believes U.S. states should determine their own abortion laws. He also posted on social media positively about “reproductive rights,” and indicated he would not restrict access to mifepristone. The drug, while it is prescribed in some miscarriage care protocols, is widely used for nearly two-thirds of abortions in the U.S.
A majority of Americans support some legal limits on abortion, while keeping the practice largely intact, according to a Knights of Columbus-Marist poll released Jan. 23. The annual survey found that 83% of Americans supported pregnancy resource centers and 67% of Americans support some legal limits for abortion. But 60% support limiting abortions to the first three months of pregnancy – a limit that would leave most abortions legal as nine out of 10 abortions occur in the first trimester.
“All of you here – all of you – have the power to change minds,” Lila Rose, a Catholic and longtime pro-life advocate, told the crowd during the march rally. “You are the voice for those who have no voice. Remember, science is on our side. The truth is on our side. We must simply have the courage to speak the truth with love.”
The March for Life was preceded by two large-scale events: Life Fest 2025 at EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Virginia, held the evening before and the morning of the march; and the National Prayer Vigil for Life at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.
Marcela Rojas, who lives in the Archdiocese of New York, said that she attended the march with a group of 75 people, many of them mothers who brought their small children.
“Within our being, in our womb, there is a life,” she said of pregnant mothers. “It is a life that we cannot choose for. It is already another life that does not belong to us, and we are not the ones to decide whether it lives or not.”
(Maria Wiering is senior writer for OSV News. Contributing to this story was OSV News correspondent Marietha Góngora V. in Washington.)
I stated this last issue of Mississippi Catholic, but I’ll state it again … we have set a date for Homegrown Harvest 2025! In this Jubilee Year of Hope, we will have our 6th Annual Event on Oct. 11, 2025 at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Madison. Please save the date.
Homegrown Harvest has become a sort of touchstone for me as vocation director. I had conversations just before the pandemic with Bishop Joseph Kopacz and with the development team at the diocese about having an event that allowed our supporters to encounter our seminarians and see all the good things that are store for the future of the church. Then … Covid. And so, our first Homegrown Harvest happened at St. Jude in Pearl and there were about six people in attendance. We somehow managed to figure out the technology and had a live event over Zoom that night as Bishop Kopacz and I spoke with Father Jim Wehner about vocations, and some other things happened I’m sure. It was all a blur.
I am so grateful at how this event has grown since then. We want to continue to make it better and more fun, and, of course, keep raising money to support our seminarians and the great ways that we are reaching out to young men throughout the diocese and accompanying them in their discernment. In other news, Father Tristan Stovall took a group of ten (10), yes, I said ten college students down to Notre Dame Seminary at the end of January. We are so blessed to have Father Tristan as assistant vocation director. He’ll be leading another seminary trip on Palm Sunday weekend to St. Joseph Seminary College in Covington.
Seeing the seminary helps young men see that there are just normal people at the seminary. The seminarians are not monks, and they are not hermits, they are normal young men who are discerning a call to a unique state in life. I’m so grateful that Father Tristan has such a love for the work that he’s doing, and it is a great help to have a brother priest on board who can lead these types of trips. He is also leading a trip for young women to see the Nashville Dominicans in the coming weeks. Thanks Father Tristan!
Our second wave of six-week discernment groups with men ages 15-25 are ramping up this month. If you remember the Called by Name campaign that we held last November – all the names that surfaced from that initiative are being contacted by members of the vocation team to see if they’d like to participate in one of these groups. Please keep these young men and the vocation team in your prayers and pray to the Father to send out more laborers for the harvest!
IN EXILE By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI For more than a thousand years, Christians have not experienced the joy of being one family in Christ. Although there were already tensions within the earliest Christian communities, it was not until the year 1054 that there was a formal split, in effect, to establish two formal Christian communities, the Orthodox Church in the East and the Catholic Church in the West. Then, with the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century, there was another split within the Western Church and Christianity fragmented still further. Today there are hundreds of Christian denominations, many of whom, sadly, are not on friendly terms with each other.
Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
Division and misunderstanding are understandable, inevitable, the price of being human. There are no communities without tension and so it is no great scandal that Christians sometimes cannot get along with each other. The scandal rather is that we have become comfortable, even smug, with the fact that we do not get along with each other, no longer hunger for wholeness, and no longer miss each other inside our separate churches. In almost all our churches today there is little anxiety about those with whom we are not worshiping. For example, teaching Roman Catholic seminarians today, I sense a certain indifference to the issue of ecumenism. For many seminarians today this is not an issue of particular concern. Not to single out Catholic seminarians, this holds true for most of us in all denominations.
But this kind of indifference is inherently unchristian. Oneness was close to the heart of Jesus. He wants all his followers at the same table, as we see in this parable.
A woman has ten coins and loses one. She becomes anxious and agitated and begins to search frantically and relentlessly for the lost coin, lighting lamps, looking under tables, sweeping all the floors in her house. Eventually she finds the coin, is delirious with joy, calls together her neighbors, and throws a party whose cost no doubt far exceeded the value of the coin she had lost. (Luke 15:8-10)
Why such anxiety and joy over losing and finding a coin whose value was probably that of a dime? Well, what’s at issue is not the value of the coin; it’s something else. In her culture, nine was not considered a whole number; ten was. Both the woman’s anxiety about losing the coin and her joy in finding it had to do with the importance of wholeness. A wholeness in her life that had been fractured, and a precious set of relationships was no longer complete.
Indeed, the parable might be recast this way: A woman has ten children. With nine of them, she has a good relationship, but one of her daughters is alienated. Her nine other children come home regularly to the family table, but her alienated daughter does not. The woman cannot rest in that situation, cannot be at peace. She needs her alienated daughter to rejoin them. She tries every means to reconcile with her daughter and then one day, miracle of miracles, it works. Her daughter comes back to the family. Her family is whole again, everyone is back at the table. The woman is overjoyed, withdraws her modest savings, and throws a lavish party to celebrate that reunion.
Christian faith demands that, like that woman, we need to be anxious, dis-eased, figuratively lighting lamps, and searching for ways to make the church whole again. Nine is not a whole number. Neither is the number of those who are normally inside our respective churches. Roman Catholicism isn’t a whole number. Protestantism isn’t a whole number. The Evangelical Churches aren’t a whole number. The Orthodox Churches aren’t a whole number. No one Christian denomination is a whole number. Together we make up a whole Christian number – and that is still not a whole faith number.
And so, we are meant to be anxious around these questions: Who no longer goes to church with us? Who is uncomfortable worshiping with us? How can we be comfortable when so many people are no longer at table with us?
Sadly, today, many of us are comfortable in churches that are far, far from whole. Sometimes, in our less reflective moments, we even rejoice in it: “Those others aren’t real Christians in any case! We’re better off without them, a purer, more faithful church in their absence! We’re the one true remnant!”
But this lack of solicitude for wholeness compromises our following of Jesus as well as our basic human maturity. We are mature, loving people and true followers of Jesus, only when, like Jesus, we are in tears over those “other sheep that are not of this fold.” When, like the woman who lost one of her coins, we cannot sleep until every corner of the house has been turned upside down in a frantic search for what’s been lost.
We too need to solicitously search for a lost wholeness – and may not be at peace until it is found.
(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser is a theologian, teacher and award-winning author. He can be contacted through his website www.ronrolheiser.com.)
