Called by Name

To discern the diocesan priesthood is to discern whether the Lord is calling you to a certain place. Religious priests can get assignments in a variety of locations based on where their order is serving.
For instance, a Jesuit might get assigned to teach at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, or at Jesuit High School in New Orleans. We have Franciscan priests serving in our diocese, and they could be called to serve in various other locations outside of our diocese, and the same could be said of the Sacred Heart Fathers that serve the Northwestern part of the diocese. But for the men who are discerning whether to enter the diocesan priesthood, they need to discern whether the Diocese of Jackson will be the place where they will give their life away to Jesus and His church.

Father Nick Adam

In order to help our seminarians get a ‘good look’ at our diocese, we’ve been making concerted efforts to assign them to parishes whenever they have extended breaks from their studies in New Orleans. I appreciate that the seminaries we use are very supportive of these efforts. This past Christmas break I had three of our seminarians staying with me at the Cathedral Rectory, and when the seminarians were off again earlier this month for Mardi Gras, Francisco Maldonado spent his five-day break back up here at the Cathedral. Over that weekend we visited a homebound parishioner, helped out at a Confirmation retreat, went to a Super Bowl party, and went to the movies, along with the weekend and weekday Mass schedule of course! It was a great picture for him of a priests’ day-to-day existence!

As I continue to learn how to be a better vocation director, I’ve started being more focused with our guys regarding the need to discern this place. During my time in seminary, I prayed long and hard regarding whether God was calling me to serve these people in this diocese. Knowing that I focused on that during my formation has helped me be more ‘all-in’ when it comes to my priestly ministry. As my assignments have changed and my responsibilities have increased, I can look back on my time in seminary as confirmation that the Lord called me to serve these people in this place, and so I need to do whatever it takes to serve them well.

Having seminarians around the parish is also just life-giving. There is something energizing about having men who are freshly on-fire for the Lord around. They have helped me rededicate myself to the ‘basics’ that I learned back in my days of seminary.

Thank you for your encouragement of our men while they spend time in parishes around the diocese.

Father Nick Adam, vocation director

(Father Nick Adam can be contacted at nick.adam@jacksondiocese.org.)

Pope: During Lent, leave appearances aside and listen to God

By Justin McLellan
ROME (CNS) – In an age when even one’s most intimate thoughts and feelings can become fodder for social media, Lent is a time to cast aside appearances and to find God at work in the depths of the heart, Pope Francis said.

Without realizing it, Christians have become immersed “in a world in which everything, including our emotions and deepest feelings, has to become ‘social,’” the pope said while celebrating Mass at the Basilica of Santa Sabina in Rome to mark the beginning of Lent Feb. 14.

Today, “even the most tragic and painful experiences risk not having a quiet place where they can be kept,” he said. “Everything has to be exposed, shown off, fed to the gossip mill of the moment.”

Dressed in purple vestments to mark the Lenten season, Pope Francis said Lent is a chance for Christians to ensure their relationship with God “is not reduced to mere outward show.”

Lent “immerses us in a bath of purification,” he said. “It means looking within ourselves and acknowledging our real identity, removing the masks we so often wear, slowing the frantic pace of our lives and embracing the truth of who we are.”

Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, sprinkles ashes on Pope Francis’ head during Ash Wednesday Mass at the Basilica of Santa Sabina in Rome Feb. 14, 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

The Lenten practices of “almsgiving, prayer and fasting are not mere external practices; they are paths that lead to the heart, to the core of the Christian life,” he added, encouraging Christians to “love the brothers and sisters all around us, to be considerate to others, to feel compassion, to show mercy, to share all that we are and all that we have with those in need.”

The liturgy began with a prayer at the nearby Church of St. Anselm, which is part of a Benedictine monastery on Rome’s Aventine Hill. Chanting the litany of saints, cardinals, joined by Benedictine and Dominican religious, then processed to the Basilica of Santa Sabina – considered the mother church of the Dominican order – for Mass.

Pope Francis, who has regularly used a wheelchair since May 2022, did not participate in the procession. In the basilica the pope blessed the ashes with holy water, praying that “we recognize that we are dust and to dust we will return.”

The pope received ashes from Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, who also was the Mass’s main celebrant at the altar.

In his homily, Pope Francis said “the ashes placed on our head invite us to rediscover the secret of life.”
“We are ashes on which God has breathed his breath of life,” he said. “And if, in the ashes that we are, the fire of the love of God burns, then we will discover that we have indeed been shaped by that love and called to love others in turn.”

Pope Francis also recalled the day’s Gospel reading from St. Matthew, in which Jesus tells his disciples not to make a public show of their prayer but to rather “go to your inner room” to pray.

Jesus’ message “is a salutary invitation for us, who so often live on the surface of things, who are so concerned to be noticed, who constantly need to be admired and appreciated,” he said.

The pope urged Christians to “return to the center of yourself,” where “so many fears, feelings of guilt and sin are lurking.”

“Precisely there the Lord has descended in order to heal and cleanse you,” he said. “Let us enter into our inner chamber: There the Lord dwells, there our frailty is accepted and we are loved unconditionally.”

Pope Francis suggested that during Lent Christians make space to incorporate silent adoration into their lives, as practiced by Moses, Elijah, Mary and Jesus.

“Have we realized that we’ve lost the meaning of adoration? Let us return to adoration,” he said.

Like St. Francis of Assisi, Christians should “strip ourselves of worldly trappings and return to the heart, to what is essential,” the pope said. “Let us acknowledge what we are: dust loved by God.”

Praying the Psalms

IN EXILE
By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI

God behaves in the psalms in ways that God is not allowed to behave in theology.
That quip comes from Sebastian Moore and should be highlighted at a time when fewer people want to use the psalms in prayer because they feel offended by what they sometimes find there. More and more, we see people resisting the psalms as a way to pray (or desire to sanitize them) because the psalms speak of murder, revenge, anger, violence, war-making, and patriarchy.

Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI

Some ask, how can I pray with words that are full of hatred, anger, violence, speak of the glories of war, and of crushing one’s enemies in the name of God? For others, the objection is to a patriarchal coloring in the psalms – where the divine is masculine and the masculine is too-much deified. For yet others, the offense is aesthetic. Their objection: “They’re bad poetry!”

Perhaps the psalms aren’t great poetry and undeniably do smack of violence, war, hatred of one’s enemies, and the desire for vengeance, all in the name of God. Admittedly, they’re also patriarchal in character. But does that make them a bad language for prayer? Let me suggest something to the contrary.

One of the classical definitions of prayer says “prayer is lifting mind and heart to God.” Simple, clear, accurate. I suggest that the actual problem is that we seldom actually do this when we pray. Rather than lifting up to God what is actually on our minds and in our hearts, we tend to treat God as someone from whom we need to hide the real truth of our thoughts and feelings. Instead of pouring out mind and heart, we tell God what we think God wants to hear – not murderous thoughts, desire for vengeance, or our disappointment with God.

But expressing those feelings is the whole point. What makes the psalms particularly apt for prayer is that they do not hide the truth from God but express the whole gamut of our actual feelings. They give an honest voice to what’s actually going on in our minds and hearts.

Sometimes we feel good and our spontaneous impulse is to speak words of praise and gratitude, and the psalms give us that voice. They speak of God’s goodness in everything – love, friends, faith, health, food, wine, enjoyment. But we don’t always feel that way. Our lives also have their cold, lonely seasons when disappointment and bitterness simmer or rage under the surface. The psalms give us honest voice where we can open up all those simmering feelings to God. Also, there are times when we are filled with the sense of our own inadequacy, with the fact that we cannot measure up to the trust and love that’s given us. Again, the psalms give us voice for this, asking God to be merciful and to soften our hearts, wash us clean, and give us a new start.

As well, there are times when we feel bitterly disappointed with God and need some way to express this. The psalms give us voice for this (“Why are you so silent?” “Why are you so far from me?”) even as they make us aware that God is not afraid of our anger and bitterness; but, like a loving parent, only wants us to come and talk about it. The psalms are a privileged vehicle for prayer because they lift the full range of our thoughts and feelings to God.

However, there are a number of reasons why we struggle with that. First, because our age tends to eschew metaphor and taken literally, some of the images in the psalms are offensive. Second, we tend to be in denial about our actual feelings. It’s hard to admit that we feel some of the things we sometimes feel – grandiosity, sexual obsessions, jealousies, bitterness, paranoia, murderous thoughts, disappointment with God, doubts in our faith. Too often our prayer belies our actual thoughts and feelings. It tells God what we think God wants to hear. The psalms are more honest.

To pray with full honesty is a challenge. Kathleen Norris puts it this way: If you pray regularly “there is no way you can do it right. You are not always going to sit up straight, let alone think holy thoughts. You’re not going to wear your best clothes but whatever isn’t in the dirty clothes basket. You come to the Bible’s great `book of praise’ through all the moods and conditions of life, and while you feel like hell, you sing anyway. To your surprise, you find that the psalms do not deny your true feelings but allow you to reflect them, right in front of God and everyone.”

Feel-good aphorisms that express how we think we ought to feel are no substitute for the earthy realism of the psalms which express how sometimes we actually do feel. Anyone who would lift mind and heart to God without ever mentioning feelings of bitterness, jealousy, vengeance, hatred, and war, should write slogans for greeting cards and not be anyone’s spiritual advisor.

(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser is a theologian, teacher and award-winning author. He can be contacted through his website www.ronrolheiser.com.)

Let God choose your Lent

GUEST COLUMN
By Jaymie Stuart Wolfe

”What are you giving up for Lent?” For many Catholics, the question appears almost automatically – and even before the last box of Christmas decorations has been packed up and stowed away. As someone who spent most of my life in that category and with that crowd, I think it’s because Lent can feel a lot like a competition, a 40-day spiritual marathon with winners and losers.

Every Ash Wednesday, it seemed to me, the church threw personal holiness down like a gauntlet. The point, I thought, was to accept the challenge and do everything in my power to excel in achieving it. My naturally competitive nature means that I have always been more than willing to take up just about any challenge. Living the faith was no exception.

Jaymie Stuart Wolfe is a sinner, Catholic convert, freelance writer and editor, musician, speaker, pet-aholic, wife and mom of eight grown children, loving life in New Orleans.

That’s one reason why I figured that the more demanding and strenuous Lent was, the better. It was a matter of simple logic. If fasting on Fridays demonstrated my love for God, then fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays would do so even more. If praying one novena was good, two or three had to be even more beneficial. Whenever I heard about someone else’s sacrifice, I’d up the ante for myself. If someone was giving up coffee, I’d commit to drinking only water. When someone I knew gave up chocolate (and there was always someone who did), I’d attempt to give up sweets of any kind. There were years I even put pebbles or toothpicks in the soles of my shoes for the season. Nothing was too much for me.

And that was the problem. In doing all those things, I failed to grasp the point of Lenten penitential practices and disciplines. I didn’t realize that because nothing was too much, nothing would ever be enough. Rather than accepting my weaknesses, I tried to live my spiritual life beyond my means and the measure of my strength. And those efforts never produced the fruit of repentance in my life. Instead, they left me exhausted and puffed up. Eventually, I finally recognized that intensifying penitential practices in preparation for Easter isn’t about spiritual bootstrapping or one-upmanship. As a result, I decided to give up giving up things for Lent.

So, for more than a decade now, I’ve been letting God choose what I give up for Lent. And he has chosen some real doozies. The things God has invited me to sacrifice have challenged me at a much deeper level because they call for more faith than I can muster on my own. This approach has made a real difference in what I gain from Lenten practices because God knows what I need better than I do. He is happy to show me all the things I have allowed to take his place. And he is more than willing to reveal the pantheon of idols in my heart, especially when I am convinced that I have none.

The truth is that the crosses I used to choose – even the most difficult ones – were still within my control, simply because I was the one who chose them. Sometimes, they required significant discipline on my part, but they also fueled my pride. In contrast, moving across the country, facing a health scare or losing financial security pulls the ground out from under me. And that’s the only way I can truly know what I’ve been standing on all along.

God understands precisely what it will take to make each one of us rely on him, to accept his grace and to trust him more completely.

As St. Francis de Sales wrote, “The everlasting God has in his wisdom foreseen from eternity the cross that he now presents to you as a gift of his inmost heart. This cross he now sends you he has considered with his all-knowing eyes, understood with his divine mind, tested with his wise justice, warmed with loving arms, and weighed with his own hands to see that it is not one inch too large nor one ounce too heavy for you. He has blessed it with his holy name, anointed it with his grace, perfumed it with his consolation, taken one last glance at you and your courage, and then sent it to you from heaven, a special greeting from God to you, an alms of the all-merciful love of God.”

(Jaymie Stuart Wolfe is a sinner, Catholic convert, freelance writer and editor, musician, speaker, pet-aholic, wife and mom of eight grown children, loving life in New Orleans.)

St. Josephine Bakhita was a victim of modern-day slavery

WALKING WITH MIGRANTS
By Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio

January was National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, leading up to the Feb. 8 feast of St. Josephine Bakhita. St. Josephine Bakhita was a young southern Sudanese girl who was kidnapped and sold into slavery. She eventually was bought by an Italian diplomat and taken to Venice, where she encountered the Catholic faith.

Her story is an interesting one, since escaping from slavery was not an easy task even in Italy during the 19th century, yet Josephine persevered and became a Canossian sister. She was canonized by St. John Paul II, who in his homily said, “We find a shining advocate of genuine emancipation.” Josephine has become the patron saint of those enslaved and trafficked, as well as one venerated by African American Catholics in the United States and also the patron saint of Sudan.

Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio is retired bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn, N.Y. He writes the column “Walking With Migrants” for Catholic News Service and The Tablet. (OSV News photo/courtesy DeSales Media Group)

Human trafficking, often referred to as a modern form of slavery, involves using force, fraud or coercion to make someone provide labor or engage in sexual activities against their will. Migrants are particularly vulnerable to trafficking because, in their desperation, they may resort to paying a smuggler to arrange transportation to their destination.

Exploiting this vulnerability, smugglers may then traffic migrants for labor or sex. The hazards migrants encounter during their difficult journeys can expose them to trafficking, regardless of whether they have used a smuggler before.

Even though those who are smuggled might initially consent and pay a fee for transportation to their desired country, some soon find themselves recruited or lured into situations of sexual exploitation, forced labor or indentured servitude – whether it happens before, during or after their migration journey. Trafficked individuals are frequently deceived with promises of a good job and a better life or, like St. Bakhita, kidnapped.

Awareness of the problem is a critical tool to combat the crime of human trafficking, which is a worldwide problem. Due to the underreported nature of the crime, it is difficult to gather accurate statistics of those trafficked and exploited. Nevertheless, the Global Slavery Index reports that at any given moment there are nearly 50 million people living in a situation of modern slavery. Estimates show there are about 1 million people living in situations of slavery in the United States.

The bimonthly newsletter put out by the anti-trafficking office of the U.S. bishops’ conference titled “Hidden in Plain Sight,” highlights how often we fail to see trafficking situations in our own communities. Hidden in plain sight is the best way to describe this reality, as they are sometimes hidden in nail salons, massage parlors or in sectors of the entertainment industry.

Awareness, prevention and detection are effective tools to eliminate human trafficking from our midst. How important it is that we keep watch for any signs of those who may be ill-treated in their workplaces, understand what might constitute a human trafficking situation and then report it to the proper authorities who can then intervene.

It is admirable that many female religious orders have dedicated much of their resources, both personnel and financial, to combating this terrible scourge on our world society. Most of those trafficked are women, but young and middle-aged men are among those trafficked.

A Prayer to St. Josephine Bakhita
St. Josephine Bakhita, you were sold into slavery as a child and endured untold hardship and suffering.
Once liberated from your physical enslavement, you found proper redemption in your encounter with Christ and his church.
O, St. Bakhita, assist all those trapped in a state of slavery; Intercede with God on their behalf so that they will be released from their chains of captivity.
Those whom man enslaves, let God set free.
Provide comfort to survivors of slavery and let them look to you as an example of hope and faith. Help all survivors find healing from their wounds. We ask for your prayers and intercessions for those enslaved among us. Amen.

(Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio is the retired bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York. He writes the column “Walking With Migrants” for The Tablet and OSV News.)

Catholic mother of 2 killed in Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade mass shooting

By Lauretta Brown
(OSV News) – Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a Catholic mother of two and beloved disc jockey for the KKFI radio station in Kansas City, Missouri, was killed Feb. 14 amid a mass shooting following the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory parade.

“It is with sincere sadness and an extremely heavy and broken heart that we let our community know that KKFI DJ Lisa Lopez, host of Taste of Tejano lost her life today in the shooting at the KC Chiefs’ rally,” the radio station announced on Facebook that Wednesday evening. “This senseless act has taken a beautiful person from her family and this KC Community.”

Lisa Lopez-Galvan, second from right, stands with her family in a photo posted to her Facebook account Sept. 26, 2022. Lopez-Galvan, a parishioner of Sacred Heart-Guadalupe Parish in Kansas City, Mo., was killed Feb. 14, 2024, Ash Wednesday, during a mass shooting following the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory parade. (OSV News screenshot/Facebook)

Lopez-Galvan was an active parishioner at Sacred Heart-Guadalupe Parish in Kansas City, Missouri, where she was fondly remembered by her fellow parishioners.

Ramona Arroyo, director of religious education at the parish, told OSV News that Lopez-Galvan’s whole family is “devoted to the church.” Her brother, Beto Lopez Jr., is the chief executive officer of Guadalupe Centers, one of the nation’s first social service agencies for the Latino community.

Arroyo said the loss was “devastating” to the community. “She was a beautiful person,” Arroyo said. She expressed her sympathy for Lopez-Galvan’s husband, Michael, saying, “It’s a horrible thing that happened to a good family.”

Monica Palacio, another parishioner who knew Lopez-Galvan, said the shooting was a “tragedy for our whole community because everybody knows the family” and they “grew up within blocks of each other.”
She also noted Lopez-Galvan’s role as host of Tejano Tuesdays at KKFI and as a well-known DJ presence at local weddings and quinceañeras.

“She was an amazing person,” Palacio said. “She was full of joy all the time, no matter where she was.” Palacio remembered Lopez-Galvan as the “life of the party” who “came with red lipstick and a big smile.”
The Kansas City Star reported that Lopez-Galvan, who was in her mid-40s with two adult children, died in the hospital during surgery after a gunshot wound to her abdomen.

Arroyo and Palacio said Lopez-Galvan, a known Chiefs fan, was at the parade with her family, including her son and nieces and nephews, and they had heard that other family members had been injured as well.
Father Luis Suárez, parochial administrator of Sacred Heart-Guadalupe Parish, remembered Lopez-Galvan in his homily at the Ash Wednesday evening Mass and encouraged the community to unite in prayer amid the tragedy.

Lauretta Brown is culture editor for OSV News. Megan Marley, digital editor for OSV News, contributed to this report.

Catholic prayer app Hallow, He Gets Us campaign runs faith-focused Super Bowl commercials

By Maria Wiering
(OSV News) – Super Bowl LVIII watchers can saw at least three faith-based commercials during the televised Feb. 11 showdown in Las Vegas between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers.
The Catholic prayer app Hallow plans to run a 30-second commercial featuring Catholic actors Mark Wahlberg and Jonathan Roumie. According to Hallow, the advertisement “will encourage fans to take time away from the spectacle of the big game and enjoy a moment of prayer on the Lord’s day.”

Wahlberg, who played prizefighter-turned-priest Father Stuart Long in the 2022 biopic “Father Stu,” is helping to lead Hallow’s annual #Pray40 Lent prayer challenge.

During Super Bowl LVIII between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers Feb. 11, 2024, the Hallow app plans to run a 30-second commercial featuring Catholic actors Mark Wahlberg and Jonathan Roumie. The app is centered on prayer and meditation. (OSV News photo/courtesy Hallow)

Pray40 also features Roumie, who portrays Jesus in the popular series “The Chosen.” Roumie voices other Hallow audio content, including the Divine Mercy Chaplet, scriptural rosary and daily Gospel readings.
“The goal at Hallow has always been to reach out to as many folks as possible, both those who take their faith seriously and especially those who might have fallen away, and invite them deeper into a relationship with God,” said Alex Jones, Hallow co-founder and CEO, in a statement announcing the commercial.

A teaser for the commercial posted on YouTube shows Wahlberg in a church dipping his hand in holy water and making the sign of the cross, and Roumie receiving ashes. Wahlberg says, “God, we take this moment,” as the screen reads, “For the first time ever, join over 100 million people in prayer during the Big Game. … Pray this Lent with Hallow.”

According to Hallow’s media statement, the commercial is expected to run “shortly before halftime.”
A recent survey by NRF and Prosper Insights & Analytics found that a record 200.5 million U.S. adults plan to watch this year’s game. A 30-second Super Bowl commercial spot reportedly costs around $7 million.
Launched in December 2018, Hallow has more than 10,000 guided prayer sessions. It claims to be the No. 1 Catholic app in the world, with more than 10 million downloads across more than 150 countries.

After appearing at the Super Bowl for the first time last year, ads from the He Gets Us campaign also are expected to run during this year’s game. Backed by Hobby Lobby co-founder and Christian David Green, last year’s ads presented Jesus as relatable and compassionate, and encouraged people to love their enemies.

This year’s ads – a 60-second spot followed later by a 15-second spot – focused on loving one’s neighbor as Jesus did.

Maria Wiering is senior writer for OSV News.

A blessed season for Ole Miss baseball

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.

Virgin Mary statue vandalized at national shrine in Washington

By OSV Staff
WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception has once again been targeted by vandals. This time, a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the north lawn of the basilica grounds, located in an area known as Mary’s Garden, suffered severe damage.

At approximately 2:30 p.m. Feb. 15, a visitor praying the rosary in the garden discovered the desecrated statue. The individual immediately alerted the basilica staff, prompting an inspection. It appeared that the Blessed Mother’s face had been deliberately struck with a hammer, and the surrounding light fixtures, meant to illuminate the path for visitors, were shattered.

A statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the north lawn of the grounds of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington was vandalized Feb. 15, 2024. According to the basilica’s rector, the damage appears to have been caused by a hammer and is being investigated. (OSV News photo/courtesy of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception)

According to Msgr. Walter Rossi, the basilica’s rector, this act of vandalism seems to have occurred shortly before its discovery, given the routine checks performed by the security staff.
This act of vandalism echoes a disturbing pattern of disrespect towards religious symbols at the national shrine. Msgr. Rossi recalled, in a statement, a similar incident on Dec. 5, 2021, when the statue of Our Lady of Fatima, an image of the Virgin Mary located in the Rosary Walk and Garden across Harewood Avenue from the basilica, was also vandalized.

The statue vandalized Feb. 15, “Mary, Protector of the Faith” by sculptor Jon-Joseph Russo, depicts the Virgin Mary cradling the child Jesus. According to the basilica’s website, it was erected in 2000 in honor of Bishop Thomas J. Grady, the fifth director of the national shrine, who oversaw the construction of the Great Upper Church.

Msgr. Rossi expressed concern and compassion not only for the sanctity of the shrine but also for the person or people responsible for the damage. “While this act of vandalism is very unfortunate, I am more concerned about the individuals who perpetrate such activity and pray for their healing,” he said.

The basilica is the largest Roman Catholic church in North America and one of the 10 largest churches in the world. The basilica welcomes nearly a million visitors annually.

The shrine’s security team is working closely with the Metropolitan Police Department to investigate the vandalism and bring those responsible to justice. Sources tell Our Sunday Visitor that the incident is being investigated as a hate crime. The Metropolitan Police Department has not yet returned Our Sunday Visitor’s request for comment.

St. Francis New Albany celebrates 75 years

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)