MS Catholic March 13, 2026

Sister ea Bowman had a ‘loving heart,’ ‘prophetic spirit’ and ‘boundless stamina,’ bishop says

BY JENNIFER BRINKER

JACKSON (OSV

News)

–

Servant of God Thea Bowman was a beacon for the Church to embrace more authentically the essence of what it means to be Catholic, Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz told Massgoers at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle in Jackson.

“To love the Lord your God with your whole heart, mind, soul and strength, and your neighbor as yourself portrays her lifelong commitment,” he said in his homily at a Feb. 9 Mass of thanksgiving marking the conclusion of the diocesan phase of Sister Thea’s canonization cause. “Her loving heart, her prophetic spirit, her brilliant mind and boundless stamina, even in illness, inspired many.”

The Mass was attended by friends and acquaintances of Sister Thea, representatives from her religious order, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual

JACKSON – Emanuele Spedicato, postulator for the cause of Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman, places the final document into a box as witnesses Fabvienen Taylor, notary for the cause, and Bishop Joseph Kopacz look on Feb. 9 at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle. The boxes containing documentation for Sister Thea’s cause were sealed and sent to Rome. (Photo by Joanna King) More photos at jacksondiocese.zenfolio.com.

Adoration, members of the historical commission who were part of the diocesan investigation, students from Sister Thea Bowman School in Jackson and St. Anthony School in Madison, in addition to faithful from across the Diocese of Jackson and beyond.

An official closing session of the diocesan phase of the canonization process followed the Mass, where the cause’s leaders ceremoniously sealed several boxes containing the diocesan phase’s documents and findings. In all, 10 boxes containing two sets of documents including more than 15,000 pages each, will be sent to the apostolic nunciature in Washington and then transferred to the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, which will further investigate the cause.

Bishop Kopacz, the main celebrant at the Mass, was among several bishops who witnessed

Sorrow, shock, prayer for Catholics in Middle East as US and Israel strike Iran, igniting war

BY GINA CHRISTIAN (OSV News)

– Catholics across the Middle East are reeling with shock and sorrow, and responding with prayer, amid joint strikes Israeli and U.S. forces launched on Iran Feb. 28, plunging the region into war.

The U.S. and Israel revealed that Iran’s supreme leader, 86-yearold Ayatollah Ali

Khamenei, is among the country’s senior leaders killed in the initial assault, which targeted Tehran and cities across Iran.

U.S. President Donald Trump described the attacks as part of “major combat operations” to overthrow Iran’s regime in order to “defend the American people.”

Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz announced the Feb. 28 “preemptive strike” against Iran, with a state of emergency declared across Israel.

Iran has retaliated with counterstrikes, targeting Israel and several U.S.-interest locations across a number of Middle East nations.

Casualties on all sides – including countries caught in the crossfire – are still being assessed amid the ongoing exchanges.

Iran’s foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, claimed that a girls’ school in Minab was bombed in the U.S.-Israeli air assault and showed a photo.

“Dozens of innocent children have been murdered at this site alone,” he said. “These crimes against the Iranian People will not go unanswered.”

U.N. Secretary General António Guterres begged “all parties to return immediately to the negotiating table,” warning “the alternative is a potential wider

LENTEN MEALS/STATIONS

BATESVILLE – St. Mary, Stations, every Tuesday and Friday during Lent at 10:30 a.m. followed by Mass at 11 a.m. Stations are also hosted 35 minutes before all four weekend Masses.

CANTON – Holy Child Jesus, Stations, every Friday during Lent at 12 p.m.

CANTON – Sacred Heart, Stations and Soup Supper, every Friday during Lent at 5:30 p.m.

CLARKSDALE – St. Elizabeth, Stations every Friday during Lent at 5:30 p.m. Knights fish fry on March 20 and 27. Lenten lunch, every Friday at 12 p.m. in McKenna Hall.

CLEVELAND – Our Lady of Victories, Stations, every Friday during Lent at 5:30 p.m.

CLINTON – Holy Savior, Stations and Lenten Meals, Stations and Mass every Friday during Lent at 5:30 p.m. followed by Lenten meal. Knights Fish Fry on March 20. Cost: $9/plate. Please RSVP for meals: holysavior@att.net.

COLUMBUS – Annunciation, Stations and Fish Dinner, every Friday during Lent at 5:30 p.m. in the Chapel with dinner in Activity Center following.

FLOWOOD – St. Paul, Fish Fry, every Friday during Lent after 6 p.m. Stations. No to-go orders.

GLUCKSTADT – St. Joseph, Fish Fry, Friday, March 27 at 5:30 p.m. Cost: $15. Grilled Cheese available for kids for $5. Stations, every Friday during Lent at 6 p.m. Details: church o ce (601) 856-2054.

GREENVILLE – St. Joseph, KC Fish Fry, March 20. Cost: $10/plate. Serving from 5-6:30 p.m. Stations, every Friday during Lent at 5 p.m. Details: church office (662) 335-5251.

GREENWOOD – Immaculate Heart of Mary, Fish Fry, every Friday during Lent at 5 p.m. Cost:

$15/plate. Pick-up or dine-in. Stations every Friday during Lent at 12 p.m.

HERNANDO – Holy Spirit, Soup and Stations, every Friday during Lent at 5:30 p.m. followed by soup supper in the Family Life Center.

JACKSON – Cathedral of St. Peter, Stations, every Friday during Lent at 5:15 p.m. (English) and 7 p.m. (Spanish). Simple meatless meal served from 5:45 p.m.

JACKSON – St. Richard, KC Fish Fry, March 20 and 27 from 6-7 p.m. in Foley Hall. Cost: $15 adults; $8 children; $45 families of 4+ (ages 12 and below). Dine-in or carry out. Stations, every Friday during Lent at 5:30 p.m.

MADISON – St. Francis of Assisi, Rosary at 6 p.m. followed by Stations at 6:30 p.m. and Lenten meals at 7 p.m., every Friday during Lent.

MAGEE – St. Stephen, Stations, every Friday during Lent at 6:30 p.m.

MERIDIAN – St. Patrick, Lenten meals, Friday March 20, and April 3 after 6 p.m. Stations. Meals provided a nominal cost.

MERIDIAN – St. Joseph, Fish Fry, Friday, March 27 after 6 p.m. Stations. Cost: $12/plate.

NATCHEZ – Knights Fish Fry, every Friday during Lent from 5-7 p.m. in the Family Life Center. Eat in or take out. Cost: catfish or shrimp $15, or combo $17. For grilled catfish, call 30 minutes ahead to Darren at (601) 597-2890. Stations at 5:15 p.m.

OLIVE BRANCH – Queen of Peace, Soup and Stations, every Friday at 5:30 p.m. Stations at 7 p.m.

PEARL – St. Jude, Stations, every Friday during Lent at 10:30 a.m. (after 10 a.m. Mass) and 6 p.m. (bilingual) with Soup Supper after 6 p.m. Stations.

JACKSON – Members of Knights of Columbus Council 9543 from St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Madison present a $1,000 donation to the Carmelite Monastery of Jackson following Mass Feb. 17 at the convent. The council designated the Carmelites as the 2026 beneficiary of proceeds from the annual Ring in Your Faith 10K/5K held on New Year’s Day. Pictured with the check are Sister Jane, Sister Dona and several Carmelite Sisters, along with Bishop Joseph Kopacz and Joe Lee of Knights of Columbus Council 9543. (Photo courtesy of Joe Lee)

PONTOTOC – St. Christopher, Stations, every Friday during Lent at 6 p.m. (Bilingual)

ROBINSONVILLE – Good Shepherd, Stations, every Tuesday during Lent at 12:30 p.m.; Reflection session from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Tuesdays led by Sister Rose; Stations, every Friday during lent at 7 p.m.

SENATOBIA – St. Gregory, Stations, every Friday during Lent at 6 p.m., followed by a Lenten meal.

SOUTHAVEN – Christ the King, Lenten Meals, served beginning at 5:30 p.m. every Friday during Lent before Stations of the Cross at 7 p.m. Lenten meal March 20; Fish Fry, March 27.

STARKVILLE – St. Joseph, Fish Fry, every Friday during Lent after 5:30 p.m. Stations. Cost: $12/ plate or $40/family.

TUPELO – St. James, Stations, every Friday during Lent, following 12:10 p.m. Mass (English) and at 6 p.m. (English). Stations in Spanish, following 6:30 p.m. Spanish Mass every Friday during Lent.

LENTEN MISSIONS

BROOKHAVEN – St. Francis, Lenten Mission with Robert Feduccia, March 26 and 27 from 6:30-8 p.m. Meal at 6 p.m

RIPLEY – St. Matthew, Day of Reflection (Spanish), Saturday, March 28 with Deacon Carlos Solas.

(More listings and Lenten reconciliation services online at jacksondiocese.org)

e prayer of a repentant heart

BY BISHOP JOSEPH R. KOPACZ, D.D.

The Ash Wednesday admonition from the Lord Jesus to pray, fast and give alms – when done faithfully – are the driving forces that give God an opening for repentance, conversion and deep-seated change in a person’s life. The big three make fertile the soil of one’s heart and mind to welcome the grace of God in expectant faith.

When the desire to repent awakens in a person’s soul what are the signs that the hands of divine providence are at work?

Psalm 51 is the classic prayer of repentance and restored hope that the tradition says is the heartfelt plea of King David after he had sinned grievously in adultery with Bathsheba in combination with the murder of her husband Uriah the Hittite.

The psalm below portrays the journey of a soul as he or she passes from the stages of deep-seated sorrow to the joy of right relationship with God, with others and the proper stance in worship, all accomplished by God’s saving grace.

Have mercy on me, God, in accord with your merciful love; in your abundant compassion blot out my transgressions. Thoroughly wash away my guilt and from my sin cleanse me. For I know my transgressions; my sin is always before me.

Against you, you alone have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your eyes. Behold, you desire true sincerity, and secretly you teach me wisdom. Cleanse me with hyssop that I may be pure; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

You will let me hear gladness and joy; the bones you have crushed will rejoice. Turn away your face from my sins; blot out all my iniquities. A clean heart create for me, God; renew within me a steadfast spirit. Do not drive me from before your face, nor take from me your holy spirit.

Restore to me the gladness of your salvation; uphold me with a willing spirit. I will teach the wicked your ways, that sinners may return to you.

Lord, you will open my lips, and my mouth will proclaim your praise. My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit. A contrite, humbled heart, O God, you will not scorn. (Psalm 51)

The rush of God’s mercy like an unfailing stream over King David is every man and every woman’s experience when brought to their knees with the weight of sin and raised up in the freedom of forgiveness.

Happy Ordination Anniversary

March 2

Fr. Henry Shelton

March 6 Fr. Albeenreddy Vatti

P.O. Box 2130 Jackson, MS 39225-2130 Phone: 601-969-3581 E-mail: editor@jacksondiocese.org

6, 2026

Publisher Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz

Communications Director Joanna Puddister King

Production Manager Tereza Ma

MISSISSIPPI CATHOLIC is an official publication of the Diocese of Jackson, 601-969-1880, 237 E. Amite St., Jackson, MS 39201. Published once per month, Mississippi Catholic mails 12 editions per year.

For address changes, corrections or to join the email list for the digital edition, email: editor@ jacksondiocese.org. Subscription rate: $20 a year in Mississippi, $21 out-of-state. Periodical postage at Jackson, MS 39201 and additional entry offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Mississippi Catholic, P.O. Box 2130, Jackson, MS 39225-2130. Website: www.mississippicatholic.com  www.jacksondiocese.org

All of the penitential psalms in one way or another anticipate the life, death, and resurrection of God’s beloved Son, and the power of the Cross to forgive and reconcile. Psalm 51, in the manner of St. Augustine in his Confessions, uniquely reveals the depravity of sin and the bounty of God’s mercy. It is not surprising then that the Church selects this psalm on Ash Wednesday in anticipation of the second reading from St. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians where the apostle assures us that we are a new creation in Jesus Christ. The gift of God’s mercy that we receive In the Sacrament of Reconciliation or in whatever moment or situation in our lives is both personal and relational.

On Ash Wednesday we heard this in St. Paul’s words:

Brothers and sisters, we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. … Working together, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says: In an acceptable time, I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you. Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

The Lord invites us today, not tomorrow, to be reconciled to God, to one another, and as his ambassadors to pray and work for peace in our world. May we receive the grace of God in all its beauty, goodness, and truthfulness in order to bear fruit that will last as his disciples in a world crying out for peace and unity.

BISHOP’S SCHEDULE

Monday, March 16, 6 p.m. – Confirmation Mass, St. James, Corinth

Tuesday, March 24, 6 p.m. – Confirmation Mass, St. Joseph, Starkville

Tuesday, March 31, 12 p.m. – Chrism Mass, Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle, Jackson

Tuesday, April 7, 6 p.m. – Confirmation Mass, St. Francis, Brookhaven

Wednesday, April 8, 6 p.m. – Confirmation Mass, Holy Savior, Clinton

Friday, April 10, 6 p.m. – Confirmation Mass, St. Joseph, Greenville

Saturday, April 11, 5 p.m. – Confirmation Mass, St. Jude, Pearl

Saturday, April 18, 11 a.m. – Confirmation Mass, St. Christopher, Pontotoc

Saturday, April 18, 4:30 p.m. – Confirmation Mass, St. James, Tupelo

Sunday, April 19, 10 a.m. – Confirmation Mass, St. James, Corinth

Sunday, April 19, 5 p.m. – Confirmation Mass, St. Joseph, Gluckstadt

Tuesday, April 21, 6 p.m. – Confirmation Mass, St. John the Evangelist, Oxford

All events are subject to change. Check with parishes for further details.

VOCATIONs 4

We are in the midst of ‘application season’ in the diocese. Typically this time of year, we have several men who are considering whether they are called to enter seminary formation, and Father Tristan Stovall and I try to walk with them as best we can. Our goal is to help them discover whether seminary is the place for them.

We discover this through one-on-one conversations so that they can ask me what seminary life is all about. They also are encouraged to visit the seminary at some stage so they can see what it’s really like. So many young people (and older people) think that a seminary operates like a monastery, but it’s not!

As Father Tristan and I get to know a discerner, there comes a point when it is appropriate to ‘hand him an application.’

Sometimes the discernment process ends without an application, but once the application is in hand, then we can plug the applicant into more resources to discover whether he’s called to the seminary.

We have the applicant work with the St. Luke Center in Louisville, Kentucky, a firm of Catholic psychologists who conduct testing that is called for by the Church. Since St. Luke works exclusively with applicants for formation, they know what to look for in a good applicant, and they give the candidate and me great information.

Once the application is turned in and the testing at St. Luke Center is through, we ask the candidate to meet with our Vocation Committee. This is a group of laity from various parishes who hear the story of the candidate and then ask him questions to get to know him better. This group has been working with me since 2020, and they have seen many applicants through the process. The Vocation Committee gives their opinion to me and Bishop Kopacz, and then a final decision is made on the candidate.

I am confident that our application process helps men whether or not they end up enrolling in the seminary. It also helps us be

generous but judicious with the resources entrusted to us to provide education and formation for our seminarians. We provide resources to these applicants to help them understand who they are and what God is calling them to do, and I am grateful for the collaboration of experts and the people of God in the process.

Please keep all those men applying for the seminary this year in your prayers, and pray that God’s will, not ours, be done!

(Father Nick Adam is Director of Vocations for the Diocese of Jackson. He can be contacted at nick.adam@jacksondiocese. org.)

e meaning of Jesus’ su ering

IN EXILE

BY FATHER RON ROLHEISER, OMI

I heard this story from a renowned theologian who prefers I don’t use his name in sharing this, though the story speaks well of his theology.

He was giving a lecture and at one point stated that God didn’t want Jesus to su er like he did. A woman in the audience immediately raised her voice: “Do you mean that?” Not knowing whether this was an objection or an a rmation, he invited the woman to speak to him at the break. Approaching him at the break, she repeated her question: “Do you mean that? Do you believe that God didn’t want Jesus to su er as he did?” He replied that indeed he meant it. God didn’t want Jesus to su er as he did. Her response: “Good, then I can pray again. I struggle to pray to a God who needs this type of su ering to pay some kind of debt.”

Why did Jesus su er? Was his su ering needed to pay a debt that only a divine being could pay? Was the original sin of Adam and Eve so great an o ense to God that no human sincerity, worship, altruism, or sacrificial su ering could appease God? Indeed, does God ever need to be appeased?

The idea that Jesus needed to su er as he did to somehow appease God for our sins lies deep within our popular understanding of Jesus’ su ering and death, and there are seemingly strong references in support of that in scripture and in the theology of atonement. What these suggest is that some quota of su ering was needed to pay the debt for sin, and Jesus’ su ering paid that debt. And since the debt was huge, Jesus’ su ering had to be severe.

But, how much of this is metaphorical and how much of this is to be taken literally? Here’s another take on why Jesus chose to accept su ering as he did.

He did it to be in full solidarity with us. He accepted to su er in such an extreme way so that no one would be able to say: “Jesus didn’t su er in a way that I have! I have su ered in more painful and humiliating ways than he ever did!”

Well, let’s examine Jesus’ suffering in the light of that challenge.

First, in his life before his passion and death, he su ered the pain of poverty, misunderstanding, hatred, betrayal, plus the loneliness of celibacy. As well, on the cross he su ered a dark night of faith. But these are ordinary human su erings. It’s in his passion and death that his su erings become more extraordinary.

Jesus was crucified. Crucifixion was designed by the Romans as more than just capital punishment. It was also designed to inflict the optimum amount of pain that a person could absorb. That’s why they would sometimes give morphine or some other drug to the one being crucified, not to dull his pain, but to keep him conscious so that he would su er longer.

Worse still, crucifixion was designed to utterly humiliate the one being crucified. Crucifixions were public events, and the one being crucified was stripped naked so his genitals would be exposed and in the spasms as he was dying, his bowels would loosen. Utter humiliation. This is what Jesus su ered.

Moreover, scholars speculate (albeit there is no direct ev-

e Pope’s Corner

idence for this) that on the night between his arrest and his execution the next day he was sexually assaulted by the soldiers who had him in their custody. This speculation grounds itself on two things: a hunch, since sexual assault was common in such situations; and to su er this kind of humiliation would be Jesus’ ultimate solidarity with human su ering.

Perhaps no humiliation compares with the humiliation su ered in sexual assault. If Jesus su ered this, and the hunch is that he did, that puts him in solidarity with one of the deepest of all human pains. Everyone who has su ered this humiliation has the consolation of knowing that Jesus may have su ered this too.

Why did Jesus accept to su er as he did? Why, as the O ce of the Church puts it, did he become sin for us?

Whatever the deep mystery and truth that lie inside the motif of paying a debt for our sins and atoning for human shortcomings, the deeper reason Jesus chose to accept su ering as he did was to be in full solidarity with us, in all our pain and humiliation.

Jesus came from our ine able God, brought a human face to the divine, and taught us what lies inside God’s heart. And in doing this, he took on our human condition completely. He didn’t just touch human life, he entered it completely, including the depth of human pain.

Indeed, there are particular su erings that perhaps Jesus didn’t explicitly experience (racism, sexism, exile, physical disability) but in his dark night of faith on the cross and in his humiliation in his crucifixion, he su ered in a way that no one can say: “Jesus didn’t su er as I have su ered!”

(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser is a professor of spirituality at Oblate School of Theology and award-winning author.)

Pope Leo’s Prayer to St. Francis: A call to peace in a divided world

(OSV News) – As tensions escalate following the Feb. 28 U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran, we share this prayer to St. Francis of Assisi – a timeless intercessor for peace – which Pope

Leo XIV shared with leaders of the Franciscan order on the beginning of the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’ death in January 2026.

Pope Leo XIV shared this prayer to St. Francis with leaders of the Franciscan order on the beginning of the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’ death in January 2026. (OSV News graphic/Megan Marley)

‘... She always had a spirit and joy about her ...’

the closing session. Concelebrants included Archbishop Mark S. Rivituso and retired Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi of Mobile, Alabama, and Bishop Steven J. Raica and retired Bishop Robert J. Baker of Birmingham, Alabama.

In 2018, Bishop Kopacz opened the cause for Sister Thea, a native of Mississippi who was born in Yazoo City and raised in Canton. She was the only African American member of the Wisconsin-based Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. Before she died of cancer in 1990 at age 52, she was a widely known speaker, evangelizer and singer.

Nearly eight years after the cause was opened, Bishop Kopacz described the moment of closing the diocesan phase of the investigation as a blessing, especially for those who have been inspired by Sister Thea’s life.

“There’s considerable joy in the African American community,” he said. “It radiates throughout the whole diocese. Our Hispanic population is very proud of Sister Thea Bowman, too. They look to her as someone who had done a lot in her life and inspires them, in spite of obstacles, to continue forward. She had a great passion and love for God, and she saw the Church as the body of Christ as being for all. She taught people to be proud of their culture, and yet see the universality of the Church.”

Among the documents and findings related to Sister Thea are interviews with more than 40 witnesses as well as her writings, articles and other items pertaining to her life, said Emanuele Spedicato, the postulator for the cause who has been charged with sending the documents to Rome.

There are main components of a canonization

conflict with grave consequences for civilians and regional stability.”

On March 1, Pope Leo XVI spoke out in the Sunday Angelus at St. Peter’s Square telling the warring parties they had a “moral responsibility” to end the fighting and return to diplomacy before the violence led to an “irreparable abyss.”

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, warned, “We are faced with the possibility of a tragedy of immense proportions.”

Bishop Aldo Berardi, apostolic vicar of northern Arabia issued a Feb. 28 statement on Facebook, urging the faithful “to remain calm, united in prayer, and attentive to the safety of everyone.”

“Please follow carefully the instructions of civil authorities and take all necessary precautions,” said Bishop Berardi.

“Let us remain united in faith and charity, caring especially for the elderly, the sick, and the vulnerable,” said Bishop Berardi. “May Our Lady of Arabia, our mother, watch over us all.”

Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Bashar M. Warda of Irbil, Iraq, told OSV News March 2 he “could see the whole scene” of nearby missile attacks by Iran on a U.S. military base near the Irbil airport.

investigation, which include a proven reputation for holiness, a rigorous examination of the candidate’s writings and life, the testimony of witnesses regarding heroic virtue and the investigation of at least one miracle attributed to their intercession.

Once the Vatican accepts the acts of the diocesan investigation, the sealed boxes will be opened and then begins the work of summarizing the information, said Spedicato, who will be tasked with writing the “positio,” which lays out the case for sainthood. From there, it is sent to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints and then ultimately to the pope.

“The most exciting part is being here today and showing the people the formalities (of the investigation) that are not only formalities but it’s for a purpose,” Spedicato said.

Among those who attended the Mass was Myrtle Otto, one of Sister Thea’s pupils at Holy Child Jesus School in Canton.

After joining the Francsican Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, Sister Thea returned to the school where she once was a student to teach music and English literature. She often stressed the importance of receiving a good education but also knew how to have fun, too, Otto said.

“We respected her in the utmost,” she said, adding that Sister Thea’s legacy should live on in how we treat others.

“Always learn to be kind,” Otto said. “Always learn to give people what’s due to them. She was a strong woman, and she taught us how to be strong. Regardless of what goes on, you pray and you go on and you’ll be successful. She’s now gone to glory with God.”

Several members of the Franciscan Sisters of Per-

MARCH 13, 2026

petual Adoration leadership were in attendance, including Sister Georgia Christensen, who knew Sister Thea from the time they were junior professed sisters.

Years ago during one of her assignments at a predominantly Black school in California, Sister Thea had come to help out for a brief period and was encouraging with the students, Sister Georgia recalled.

“She always had a spirit of joy about her,” she said.

“She was able to break into song at any time, just praising God and making others happy. It touches the soul, and what it says is her life was a life worth living,” Sister Georgia recalled.

Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman’s cause for canonization has advanced to the Vatican. Her home parish, Holy Child Jesus in Canton, invites the faithful to its annual musical celebration Mass at 3 p.m. March 28 honoring the anniversary of her death.

As part of their community’s perpetual adoration, the Franciscan sisters include a prayer at the end of every hour with the line: “All praise and all thanksgiving, be every moment thine.”

“I couldn’t help but think of that here today,” Sister Georgia said. “This is a moment of glory to God and Thea was the cause of it.”

(Jennifer Brinker is a reporter at the St. Louis Review and Catholic St. Louis, the news outlets of the Archdiocese of St. Louis.)

‘... Prayer is the only hope we have ...’

People walk past damaged buildings in Tehran, Iran, March 4, 2026, following a strike on a police station, amid the U.S. and Israel-Iran war. (OSV News photo/Majid Asgaripour, WANA via Reuters)

“The missiles ... the noise and the bombing,” he said. “You can imagine the fear and horror.”

“Prayer is the only hope we have,” he said.

In Israel, Benedictine Father Nikodemus Schnabel – abbot of Dormition Abbey on Mount Zion in the heart of Jerusalem and of Tabgha, the community’s priory on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee – sheltered with some 60 pilgrims at Tabgha, the revered site of Jesus Christ’s multiplication of the loaves and fishes.

“It was always in the air that ... something could happen,” he explained.

He said their international group had been in the shelter for two hours, describing the time – which video obtained by OSV News showed the pilgrims praying and singing – as unifying amid the attacks.

“It was a good experience. We don’t know each other, but then we sing songs in different languages. We pray together,” he explained.

He said the experience was an example of Benedictine hospitality.

“Very often I say, ‘I want that our two monasteries are two islands of hope in an ocean of suffering,’” said Father Schnabel. “And this was exactly the feeling. We were also today an island of hope in an ocean of suffering.”

Jesuit Father John Paul, rector of the Tantur Ecumenical Institute – located between Bethlehem and Jerusalem – told OSV News he believed “Jerusalem is not a target area.”

The priest, whose institute is staffed by both Palestinians and Israelis, pointed to the sorrow evoked by the strikes, which follow the Israel-Hamas war and ongoing tensions between Israel and Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

“Overall, with local Palestinians” there is “a feeling of real sadness – my guess is with Israelis as well,” said Father John Paul.

Father Schnabel said the pilgrims at Tagbha were praying for all affected.

“We pray for the others ... So let’s pray for the people in Iran. Let’s pray for the people in Israel. Let’s pray for the people in Palestine. Let’s pray for the people in the region who are facing this situation,” he said.

(Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Paulina Guzik, international editor of OSV News, contributed to this report.)

Parishioners honored for service to the Church with Bishop Chanche Medals

JACKSON – When Bishop John Joseph Chanche arrived in the newly formed Diocese of Natchez in May of 1841, there were no Catholic Churches, only a couple of missionary priests, and his flock was far flung. He rose to the challenge and laid the foundation for the Diocese of Jackson. The diocese honors his legacy and thanks those who continue to build on his foun-

dation with the Bishop Chanche medal for service.

This year, Bishop Joseph Kopacz gave 42 adults their awards on Saturday, Feb. 28, at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle.

Jose Varela of St. Jude Parish in Pearl is pinned with the Bishop Chanche Medal for service. More photos at jacksondiocese.zenfoliosite.com.

Reina Adams St. Anne, Carthage

Gail Allen Holy Cross, Philadelphia

Laila Barnes Alcorn State University, Lorman

Sandra Berezni St. Peter, Grenada

Nancy Bridges St. Helen, Amory

Ylinda Jackson-Brown St. Anne, Fayette

Even during the Bishop Chanche Medal ceremony, fatherhood comes first as Mario Villasenor of St. Therese Parish in Jackson cares for his baby during Mass at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle Feb. 28. (Photos by Joanna King)

(Left) Elizabeth Liddell of Holy Ghost Parish in Jackson prays during the Bishop Chanche Medal Mass. (Below) Honorees stand during the Bishop Chanche Medal ceremony recognizing their service to the Church.

Greg and Marsha Bursavich St. Mary, Batesville

Jewel and Allene Butler St. John the Baptist, Cranfield

Sara Byars All Saints, Belzoni

James and Dana Caskey St. Joseph, Gluckstadt

Liz Edmondson St. Michael, Forest

Dr. Rosalyn Gambrell St. Joseph, Meridian

Joe and Dianne Good Holy Family, Natchez

John Hindman St. Francis, New Albany

David and Connie Hosemann St. Paul, Vicksburg

Pamela Jones Holy Family, Jackson

Eddie Elizabeth Liddell Holy Ghost, Jackson

Dr. Dena Kinsey Holy Savior, Clinton

Glara J. Hart-Martin St. Francis, Greenwood

Gwendolyn McGill Christ the King, Jackson

Beatriz Gonzalez Medrano Immaculate Heart of Mary, Houston

Jose and Maria Teresa Menjivar St. Anne, Carthage

Lacey and Matt Nalker Immaculate Conception, Raymond

Delia Nuckolls

Our Mother of Mercy, Anguilla

Mary Lynn Powers St. Joseph, Greenville

Kerry Roberts St. Michael, Vicksburg

Mary and Richard Rohman St. Mary, Yazoo City

Patricia Ross St. Francis, Madison

Jose and Josefina Varela St. Jude, Pearl

David and Adrian Viger

St. Patrick, Meridian

Mario and Hannah Villasenor

St. Therese, Jackson

Jackson Diocese celebrates love

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. 7, at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle in Jackson, followed by a second celebration on Saturday, Feb. 14, 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.

During the World Marriage Day celebrations, 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, rea rming 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.

(View photos from World Marriage Day at https://jacksondiocese.zenfoliosite.com.)

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

60+ Years

Richard & Geraldine Anderson (68)

James & Carol Cooper (61)

Ralph & Beatrice Hanskiewicz (69)

Cli ord & Marilyn Hernandez (63)

Fred & Antinette McFadden (61)

60 Years

Johnny & Donna Biggert

Michael & Aleda Coate

John & Gail Hindmanz

George & Faye Jones

Richard & Virginia Moody

Bill & Carolyn O’Connor

Ken & Carol Pate

Otto & Inez Storr

50+ Years

Philip & Barbara Aguirre (53)

Frank & Sheri Boettcher (57)

Ben & Charity Cannon (57)

Norman & Pat Hass (55)

Charles & Susan Phillips (55)

Joe & Margaret Smith (57)

Gregory & Carolyn Victoriano (56)

50 Years

Bill & Kathy Anderson

Charles & Joanne Bergin

Harrison & Patricia Darbonne

Mike & Cathy Eaves

Eddie & Marcia Gri n

Ike & Patty Henry

Michael & Debra Hicks

Robert & Betty Howard

Philip & Linda Jabour

Woodrow & Mary Middleton

Ned & Deborah Ruggeri

James & Linda Sabatier

Dave & Nancy Stark

40+ Years

Bill & Nancy Bowen (47)

Donald & Marilyn Davis (41)

Al & Paula Hanskiewicz (41)

David & Carrie Haadsma (45)

Edward & Kristy Ivancic (49)

Norman & Kathy Kennedy (45)

Jose & Ma Segura (43)

40 Years

Sam & Caytee Derby

Mark & Mary Dye

Paul & Michelle Harkins

John & Bridget Harwell

Je rey & Marlene Jenkins

Ali & Patricia Lopez

Jerry & Peggi Seaman

Gerardo & Vivian Velazquez

Ted & Mary William

30+ Years

Glenn & Stacey Ferreri (31)

Pablo & Isabel Garcia (31)

Will & Sallie Ann Inman (35)

Steven & Kathryn Langston (35)

Encarnacion & Lourdes Mayo (35)

Pham Nguyen & Bach Tuyet (38)

Charlie & Gisele Zappala (37)

30 Years

Dennis & Nancy Barrett

John & Ursula Bethea

Shaun & Kimberly Conerly

Ted & Raquel Thompson

Pertis Watts & VeSheler Odom-Watts

25+ Years

Higinio & Maria Acosta (29)

Reynaldo & Araceli Acosta (29)

Manuel & Iromi Alcala (26)

Guillermo Gonzalez & Griselda Bautista (27)

Servando & Laura Murillo (27)

Alejandro Rivera & Sandra Hernandez (27)

Shane & Ann Marie Sanders (29)

25 Years

Juan & Sole Arellano

Leo & Glenda Bautista

Will & Erin Bristow

Allen & Tracy Clint

Doug & Jennifer Colson

Harlan & Margie Dean

Sean & Lisa Didion

Jai & Lori Eschete

Eusebio & Melissa Escobar

Macario & Socorro Espino

Luis Hernandez & Maria de Jesus

Marcus & Sarah Jones

Fernando Patino & Miriam Magana

Reynaldo & Marie Patawaran

Sandown & Maria Pope

Luis & Pilar Terrazas

Kenny & Lailah Valentine

Jorge & Ana Vidal

20+ Years

Gonzalo & Angelica Castillo (23)

Juan Vazquez & Rosario Gonzalez (21)

John & Gayle Lindsey (21)

Jose Antonio & Martha Elena Noguez (22)

Jose & Letty Ruedas (20)

Victor Vazquez & Mayra Martinez (23)

Adolfo & Aidee Zuniga (22)

Under 20 years

Alejandro & Katya Cruz (19)

Tommy & Mary Morrison (19)

Leonel Bernal & Leticia Salinas (18)

Martin Hernandez & Maria Mariela (17)

German & Natali Flores (16)

Andres & Oralia Martinez (16)

Javier Vazquez & Isela Fuentes (13)

Francisco & Yolanda Aguilar (10)

Miguel Triano & Nurianda Rodriguez (9)

Miguel Ramirez & Flor Galindo (8)

Fernando Morales & Reyna Hernandez (7)

James Edgeworth & Mary Jo White (6)

Bill & Lee Ann Kostrub (5)

Pedro & Natalia García (3)

Alberto Zaragoza & Gricelda Martinez (2)

Tristeza, conmoción y

oraciones

por los católicos de Oriente Medio mientras Estados Unidos e Israel atacan Irán, iniciando una guerra

POR GINA CHRISTIAN

(OSV News) – Los católicos de todo Oriente Medio están conmocionados y afligidos, y responden con oraciones, ante los ataques conjuntos lanzados por las fuerzas israelíes y estadounidenses contra Irán el 28 de febrero, sumiendo a la región en una guerra.

Estados Unidos e Israel revelaron que el líder supremo de Irán, el ayatolá Alí Jamenei (Khamenei), de 86 años, es uno de los altos dirigentes del país fallecidos tras el ataque inicial, que tuvo como objetivo Teherán y otras ciudades de Irán.

El presidente estadounidense, Donald Trump, describió los ataques como parte de "importantes operaciones de combate" para derrocar al régimen iraní con el fin de "defender al pueblo estadounidense".

Por otra parte, el ministro de Defensa israelí, Israel Katz, anunció el "ataque preventivo" del 28 de febrero contra Irán, con la declaración del estado de emergencia en todo Israel.

Irán ha respondido con contraataques, dirigidos contra Israel y varios lugares de interés para Esta-

Personas sobre los escombros de un edificio dañado tras un ataque israelí en Beirut el 6 de marzo de 2026, tras la reanudación de las hostilidades entre Hezbolá e Israel en medio de la guerra entre Estados Unidos e Israel con Irán. (Foto de OSV News/Reuters)

dos Unidos en varios países de Oriente Medio.

Aún se están evaluando las víctimas en ambos bandos en medio de los continuos intercambios, pero el ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Irán, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, afirmó que una escuela de niñas en Minab fue bombardeada en el ataque aéreo estadounidense-israelí.

"Solo en este lugar han sido asesinados decenas de niños inocentes", afirmó, mostrando una foto. "Estos crímenes contra el pueblo iraní no quedarán sin respuesta".

El secretario general de la ONU, António Guterres, imploró a "todas las partes que regresaran inmediatamente a la mesa de negociaciones, en particular sobre el programa nuclear de Irán", y advirtió que "la alternativa es un posible conflicto más amplio con graves consecuencias para la población civil y la estabilidad regional".

El 1 de marzo, el Papa León XVI se pronunció en el Ángelus dominical en la plaza de San Pedro y dijo a las partes beligerantes que tenían la "responsabilidad moral" de poner fin a los combates y volver a la diplomacia

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Miembros de la Arquidiócesis de Miami acompañan serie de envíos de ayuda humanitaria a Cuba tras el huracán

POR TOM TRACY

MIAMI – Representantes y miembros del clero de la Arquidiócesis de Miami acompañaron recientemente una serie de envíos de ayuda humanitaria a Cuba, tras el paso del huracán Melissa el año pasado. Los nuevos envíos aéreos de alimentos y artículos de higiene fueron aprobados por los gobiernos de los Estados Unidos y Cuba este año, y ascienden a unos $3 millones en ayuda, principalmente para las comunidades del este de la Isla, afectadas por el huracán en el 2025.

El huracán tocó tierra el 28 de octubre en Jamaica como tormenta de categoría 5, antes de su paso por las Bahamas, la República Dominicana, Haití y Cuba. Decenas de personas perdieron la vida, la mayoría en Jamaica y Haití.

Pero el deterioro de la situación económica de Cuba impulsó la acción de un pequeño grupo de donantes a través de Caridades Católicas de la Arquidiócesis de Miami.

Dichos esfuerzos locales, a finales del año pasado, se ampliaron en 2026 mediante una asociación gubernamental de $3 millones con Catholic Relief Services (CRS, Servicios Católicos de Ayuda Human-

itaria de los Estados Unidos), lo que marcó el regreso a Cuba de la organización benéfica internacional con sede en Baltimore, por primera vez en una década.

La Iglesia Católica en Cuba ha estado encargada de supervisar la distribución de la ayuda para garantizar que beneficie a los más necesitados en la nación de régimen comunista, según Peter Routsis-Arroyo, director ejecutivo de Caridades Católicas de la Arquidiócesis de Miami.

"Cáritas Cuba, junto con sacerdotes, personal y voluntarios de las parroquias de las cuatro diócesis afectadas por el huracán Melissa, continúan distribuyendo la ayuda humanitaria proporcionada por CRS utilizando criterios basados en las necesidades", dijo Routsis-Arroyo.

"El obstáculo más reciente es la escasez de combustible, que dificultará aún más la distribución (de ayuda)", señaló el 21 de febrero. "También está provocando que la recolección de basura en toda la región sea prácticamente inexistente, lo que podría conducir a la propagación de enfermedades".

En noviembre, Routsis-Arroyo y otros dos representantes de la Arquidiócesis viajaron a Cuba para acompañar el tercero de cuatro envíos, que partió del Aeropuerto Internacional de Miami y llegó al Aero-

Melissa

puerto Internacional Antonio Maceo, en Santiago, Cuba.

El 28 de enero, el padre José Espino, rector del Santuario Nacional de Nuestra Señora de la Caridad, en Miami, y la hermana Eva Pérez-Puelles, de las Hijas de la Caridad de Miami, acompañaron un nuevo envío aéreo de ayuda a Santiago, Cuba. Al día siguiente, el padre Elvis González, párroco de St. Michael the Archangel, en Miami, y el padre Esney Muñoz Díaz, de la misma parroquia, supervisaron un envío aéreo a la región de Holguín.

"Los suministros son recibidos por un obispo o un representante de Cáritas Cuba, que se asegura de que lleguen a las personas adecuadas", informó Routsis-Arroyo.

"Cáritas Cuba aplica criterios basados en las necesidades para distribuir la ayuda, y da prioridad a las madres solteras, las personas mayores, y las personas con discapacidad y movilidad reducida", indicó.

"La diferencia ahora es que esto forma parte de los $3 millones que el gobierno de los Estados Unidos permitió utilizar como parte de un compromiso para

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'... Oremos por las personas de la región que se enfrentan a esta situación ...'

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antes de que la violencia condujera a un "abismo irreparable".

El arzobispo Paul S. Coakley de Oklahoma City, presidente de la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de Estados Unidos advirtió: "Nos enfrentamos a la posibilidad de una tragedia de proporciones inmensas".

El obispo Aldo Berardi, vicario apostólico del norte de Arabia – quien pastorea a los aproximadamente 2,2 millones de católicos, en su mayoría trabajadores migrantes de otras naciones, en Baréin, Kuwait, Qatar y Arabia Saudita– emitió un comunicado el 28 de febrero en Facebook, en el que instaba a los fieles a "mantener la calma, permanecer unidos en la oración y estar atentos a la seguridad de todos".

"Por favor, sigan atentamente las instrucciones de las autoridades civiles y tomen todas las precauciones necesarias en sus hogares, lugares de trabajo y parroquias", dijo el obispo Berardi.

"Permanezcamos unidos en la fe y la caridad, cuidando especialmente a los ancianos, los enfermos y los vulnerables", dijo el obispo Berardi. "Que Nuestra Señora de Arabia, nuestra madre, nos cuide a todos".

El arzobispo católico caldeo Bashar M. Warda, de Irbil, Irak, declaró a OSV News el 2 de marzo que "pudo ver toda la escena" de los ataques con misiles lanzados por Irán contra una base militar estadounidense cercana al aeropuerto de Irbil.

"Los misiles, los antimisiles, el ruido y los bombardeos...", afirmó. "Se pueden imaginar el miedo y el horror".

En un mensaje a OSV News dos días antes, compartió que las escuelas de la zona estaban cerradas "por el momento". El arzobispo Warda añadió que los fieles de la región de Irbil "se mantenían realmente fuertes".

"La oración es la única esperanza que tenemos", dijo.

En Israel, el padre benedictino Nikodemus Schnabel, rector de la abadía de la Dormición en el monte Sión, en la ciudad vieja de Jerusalén, y abad de Tabgha, el priorato de la comunidad en la costa noroeste del mar de Galilea, se refugió con unos 60 peregrinos en Tabgha, el lugar tradicionalmente venerado por la multiplicación de los panes y los peces por Jesucristo.

"Siempre se intuía que algo podría pasar", explicó.

Dijo que su grupo internacional, que incluía a niños y personas mayores, había estado en el refugio durante dos horas, y describió ese tiempo – que el video obtenido por OSV News mostraba a los peregrinos rezando y cantando – como un momento unificador en medio de los ataques.

"Fue una buena experiencia. No nos conocemos, pero cantamos canciones en diferentes idiomas. Rezamos juntos", explicó.

Dijo que la experiencia era un ejemplo de la hospitalidad benedictina.

"Muy a menudo digo: 'Quiero que nuestros dos monasterios sean dos islas de esperanza en un océano de sufrimiento'", afirmó el padre Schnabel. "Y esa fue exactamente la sensación. Hoy también fuimos una isla de esperanza en un océano de sufrimiento".

El padre jesuita John Paul, rector del Instituto Ecuménico Tantur, situado entre Belén y Jerusalén, dijo a OSV News que había pasado la mañana "entrando y saliendo de refugios", aunque creía que "Jerusalén no es una zona objetivo".

El sacerdote, cuyo instituto cuenta con personal tanto palestino como israelí, señaló el dolor que han provocado los ataques, que se producen tras la guerra entre Israel y Hamás y las continuas tensiones entre Israel y los palestinos que viven en la Franja de Gaza y Cisjordania.

"En general, entre los palestinos locales" hay "un sentimiento de verdadera tristeza; supongo que entre los israelíes también", dijo el padre John Paul.

El padre Schnabel dijo que él y los peregrinos de Tagbha rezaban por todos los afectados.

"Oramos por los demás... Oremos por el pueblo de Irán. Oremos por el pueblo de Israel. Oremos por el pueblo de Palestina. Oremos por las personas de la región que se enfrentan a esta situación", dijo.

(Gina Christian es reportera multimedia de OSV News. Paulina Guzik, editora internacional de OSV News, contribuyó a este reportaje.)

' ... Esperamos que esto abra fondos y proporcione asistencia a los cubanos ...'

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ayudar a Cuba", explicó Routsis-Arroyo, quien se reunió a finales de enero con el arzobispo de Miami, Mons. Thomas G. Wenski, para discutir la operación.

"En la Arquidiócesis de Miami tratamos de ayudar y complementar dichos esfuerzos, y continuaremos nuestras propias relaciones y esfuerzos con Cuba", expresó. No es la primera vez que se envía ayuda a Cuba. En diciembre, el arzobispo Wenski explicó a los periódicos arquidiocesanos que es "algo que llevamos haciendo desde hace mucho tiempo".

"En los últimos cinco años, hemos enviado unos 45 contenedores a Cuba para ayudar a las diócesis y comunidades religiosas en su labor con los pobres, especialmente con las personas mayores", afirmó.

El huracán Melissa tuvo mayor impacto en Santiago, en la parte oriental de Cuba. La ayuda humanitaria a Cuba tiene como objetivo asistir a la población de cuatro diócesis, entre ellas Guantánamo-Baracoa, la Arquidiócesis de Santiago de Cuba, la Diócesis de Holguín, y la Diócesis de Bayamo-Manzanillo.

El Departamento de Estado de los Estados Unidos ha informado que los paquetes de alimentos incluyen suministros como arroz, frijoles, aceite y azúcar. La ayuda también incluye tabletas para purificar el agua, y recipientes de almacenamiento, artículos domésticos esenciales como ollas y sartenes, junto con sábanas, mantas y linternas solares.

El año pasado, la administración Trump decidió disolver la Agencia de los Estados Unidos para el Desarrollo In-

ternacional (USAID, por sus siglas en inglés), y transfirió algunas de las funciones restantes al Departamento de Estado.

Los recortes a la financiación de la ya desaparecida agencia de ayuda humanitaria afectaron el apoyo a iniciativas de organizaciones humanitarias católicas como CRS, así como de otras confesiones religiosas.

Robyn Fieser, gerente de CRS de relaciones con los medios, dijo en una declaración a OSV News que "tras el huracán Melissa, estamos apoyando la entrega de suministros de emergencia a familias en Cuba mediante la financiación del gobierno de los Estados Unidos, en coordinación con la Iglesia Católica, un socio de larga trayectoria y de confianza para llegar a las comunidades en tiempos de crisis".

El arzobispo Wenski compartió con los periódicos arquidiocesanos que este nuevo proyecto con Cuba supone una oportunidad para que el gobierno de los Estados Unidos restablezca en parte su coordinación con CRS. En su opinión, el secretario de Estado, Marco Rubio, ha actuado con gran sensatez al restablecer esa relación.

"CRS ha vuelto a ayudar a Cuba", añadió el arzobispo. "Esperamos que esto abra fondos y proporcione asistencia a los cubanos, porque eso es lo único que les está llegando en este momento".

(Tom Tracy escribe para el periódico Florida Catholic, medio de comunicación de la Arquidiócesis de Miami. Este artículo fue publicado originalmente por Florida Catholic y La Voz Católica. Este artículo es distribuido en colaboración con OSV News.)

En esta foto de archivo aparece la emblemática caja de cartón de CRS Rice Bowl. El papa Francisco felicitó a Catholic Relief Services por el 50.º aniversario de la iniciativa cuaresmal para apoyar su labor caritativa en el extranjero en nombre de la Iglesia católica en Estados Unidos (foto de OSV News/Karen Kasmauski, CRS).

La oración de un corazón arrepentido

POR OBISPO JOSEPH R. KOPACZ, D.D.

La advertencia del Miércoles de Ceniza del Señor Jesús para orar, ayunar y dar limosna, cuando se hace fielmente, son las fuerzas que impulsan a Dios una apertura para el arrepentimiento, la conversión y un cambio profundo en la vida de una persona. Los tres grandes hacen que el suelo del corazón y la mente de uno sea fértil para dar la bienvenida a la gracia de Dios en la fe expectante.

Cuando el deseo de arrepentirse despierta en el alma de una persona, ¿cuáles son las señales de que las manos de la providencia divina están actuando?

El Salmo 51 es la clásica oración de arrepentimiento y esperanza restaurada que la tradición dice es la súplica sentida del rey David después de haber pecado gravemente en adulterio con Betsabé, combinada con el asesinato de su marido Uriah el hitita.

El salmo siguiente retrata el viaje de un alma a medida que pasa de las etapas de una profunda tristeza hacia la alegría de la relación correcta con Dios, con los demás y la postura adecuada en la adoración, todo logrado por la gracia salvadora de Dios.

Ten piedad de mí, Dios, de acuerdo con tu amor misericordioso; Con tu abundante compasión borra mis transgresiones. Lava a fondo mi culpa y límpiame de mi pecado. Porque conozco mis transgresiones; Mi pecado siempre está ante mí.

Contra ti, y solo contra ti he pecado; He hecho lo que es malo a tus ojos. He aquí, deseas verdadera sinceridad y en secreto me enseñas sabiduría. Límpiame con hisopo para que sea puro; Lávame, y seré más blanco que la nieve. Me harás escuchar alegría y alegría; Los huesos que has aplastado se alegrarán. Aparta tu rostro de mis pecados; Borra todas mis injusticias. Un corazón limpio crea para mí, Dios; Renueva en mí un espíritu firme. No me expulses de tu rostro, ni me quites tu espíritu santo.

La

Esquina del Papa

Restaura en mi la alegría de tu salvación; sostenme con un espíritu dispuesto. Para enseñaré a los malvados tus caminos, para que los pecadores puedan volver a ti.

Señor, tu abrirás mis labios, y mi boca proclamará tu alabanza. Mi sacrificio, oh, Dios, es un espíritu arrepentido. Un corazón remordido y humilde, oh, Dios, no despreciarás.

La carrera de la misericordia de Dios, como un río inquebrantable sobre el rey David, es la experiencia de cada hombre y cada mujer cuando se les arrodilla con el peso del pecado y se levantan en la libertad del perdón.

Todos los salmos penitenciales, de una forma u otra, anticipan la vida, muerte y resurrección del Hijo amado de Dios, y el poder de la Cruz para perdonar y reconciliar. El Salmo 51, al estilo de San Agustín en sus Confesiones, revela de forma única la depravación del pecado y la abundancia de la misericordia de Dios. No es de extrañar, entonces, que la Iglesia elija este salmo el Miércoles de Ceniza en previsión de la segunda lectura de la segunda carta de San Pablo a los Corintios, donde el apóstol nos asegura que somos una nueva creación en Jesucristo. El don de la misericordia de Dios que recibimos en el Sacramento de la Reconciliación o en cualquier momento o situación de nuestra vida es tanto personal como relacional.

El Miércoles de Ceniza escuchamos esto en palabras de San Pablo: Hermanos y hermanas, somos embajadores de Cristo, como si Dios estuviera apelando a través de nosotros. Te imploramos, en nombre de Cristo, que te reconcilies con Dios. ... Trabajando juntos, entonces, te pedimos que no recibas la gracia de Dios en vano. Porque dice: En un tiempo aceptable, te escuché, y en el día de la salvación te ayudé. He aquí, ahora es un momento muy aceptable; He aquí, ahora es el día de la salvación.

El Señor nos invita hoy, no mañana, a reconciliarnos con Dios, entre nosotros y como sus embajadores a orar y trabajar por la paz en nuestro mundo.

Que recibamos la gracia de Dios en toda su belleza, bondad y veracidad para dar fruto que perdure como sus discípulos en un mundo que clama por la paz y la unidad.

Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe es el modelo de ‘perfecta inculturación’, afirma el Papa León

POR COURTNEY MARES

ROMA – El Papa León XIV ha señalado a Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe como el modelo de "perfecta inculturación", mientras México se prepara para conmemorar el 500 aniversario del acontecimiento guadalupano en 2031 con un año jubilar.

En un mensaje del 24 de febrero dirigido al Congreso Teológico-Pastoral que se celebra en la Ciudad de México, el Papa dijo que "La Morenita manifiesta el modo de Dios para acercarse a su pueblo".

El congreso, que se celebra del 24 al 26 de febrero, se organizó para preparar el 500 aniversario de las apariciones marianas a San Juan Diego en el cerro del Tepeyac, en la Ciudad de México. Está promovido por la Comisión Pontificia para América Latina, la Conferencia del Episcopado Mexicano, los Caballeros de Colón y la Pontificia Academia Mariana Internacional.

"Santa María de Guadalupe es una lección de la pedagogía divina sobre la inculturación de la verdad salvífica", dijo el Papa León. "En ella no se canoniza una cultura ni se absolutizan sus categorías, pero tampoco se las ignora o se las desprecia: son asumidas, purificadas y transfiguradas para convertirse en un lugar de encuentro con Cristo".

En diciembre de 1531, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe se apareció cuatro veces a San Juan Diego, un indígena mexicano convertido al cristianismo, en el cerro del Tepeyac. Pidió que se construyera una iglesia en su honor en ese lugar y dejó su imagen milagrosamente impresa en la tilma, o manto, de San Juan Diego, que hoy se exhibe en la Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe en la Ciudad de México.

Los estudiosos y teólogos han señalado desde hace tiempo que la imagen de la tilma está llena de simbolismo comprensible para los pueblos de habla náhuatl del centro de México, desde su manto turquesa, asociado al estatus de reina en la cultura azteca, hasta la banda negra alrededor de su cintura, que era un signo de embarazo en la tradición indígena. La flor de cuatro pétalos, situada en su vestimenta sobre el vientre de Nuestra Señora, era un símbolo azteca del centro del universo y la plenitud de lo divino.

Señaló que Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe ejemplifica el modo de Dios para acercarse a su pueblo –" respetuoso en su punto de partida, inteligible en su lenguaje y firme y delicado en su conducción hacia el encuentro con la Verdad plena, con el Fruto bendito de su vientre".

El Papa dijo que las apariciones en el cerro del Tepeyac pueden considerarse "un criterio permanente para el discernimiento de la misión evangelizadora de la Iglesia, llamada a anunciar al Verdadero Dios por quien se vive sin imponerlo, pero también sin diluir la radical novedad de su presencia salvadora".

La inculturación se refiere al concepto de encarnar el Evangelio en diferentes culturas. El Papa aclaró que "la inculturación no equivale a una sacralización de las culturas ni a su adopción como marco interpretativo decisivo del mensaje evangélico".

"Legitimar todo lo culturalmente dado o justificar prácticas, visiones del mundo o estructuras que contradicen el Evangelio y la dignidad de la persona sería desconocer que toda cultura –como toda realidad humana– debe ser iluminada y transformada por la gracia que brota del misterio pascual de Cristo", añadió el Papa León.

"La inculturación es, más bien, un proceso exigente y purificador, mediante el cual el Evangelio, permaneciendo íntegro en su verdad, reconoce, discierne y asume las semina Verbi presentes en las culturas, y al mismo tiempo purifica y eleva sus valores auténticos, liberándolos de aquello que los oscurece o los desfigura", dijo el Papa.

Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe es venerada como la patrona de las Américas.

venerada

El Papa León señaló que "hoy, en muchas regiones del continente americano y del mundo, la transmisión de la fe ya no puede darse por supuesta, particularmente en los grandes centros urbanos y en sociedades plurales, marcadas por visiones del hombre y de la vida que tienden a relegar a Dios al ámbito de lo privado o a prescindir de Él".

"Y que Santa María de Guadalupe, Estrella de la Nueva Evangelización, acompañe e inspire cada iniciativa rumbo a los 500 años de su aparición", dijo el Papa León.

(Courtney Mares es editora del Vaticano para OSV News. Síguela en X @catholicourtney.)

Este es un cartel de "No Priests Left" (No quedan sacerdotes), una serie de cortometrajes documentales producida por "A Faith Under Siege" (Una fe bajo asedio) que documenta la persecución de los católicos en la Ucrania ocupada por Rusia. (Foto de OSV News/cortesía de A Faith Under Siege)

NACIÓN

SACRAMENTO, California (OSV News) – La escuela parroquial St. Mary, en Sacramento, evitó un posible tiroteo masivo durante una liturgia escolar el Miércoles de Ceniza, gracias a la rápida intervención de un agente de policía fuera de servicio y un padre de la escuela, que detuvieron a un antiguo alumno armado que intentaba entrar en la iglesia. El sospechoso, Brian Richard Girardot Jr., de 20 años, se enfrenta ahora a un cargo federal por posesión de un arma de fuego dentro de una zona escolar. La directora de la escuela, Amy Hale, atribuye a los padres voluntarios que actúan como monitores de seguridad el mérito de haber evitado lo que podría haber sido una tragedia. El incidente del 18 de febrero se produce unos seis meses después del tiroteo mortal en la iglesia católica Annunciation de Minneapolis durante una liturgia escolar. El registro policial del coche y la casa de Girardot reveló varias armas más y una nota de suicidio llena de blasfemias en la que nombraba a tres familiares como motivo de su posible ataque. "Gracias a la vigilancia y la profesionalidad de nuestros padres voluntarios, nuestros hijos permanecieron a salvo dentro de la iglesia durante toda la misa y se evitó una posible crisis", dijo Hale en un comunicado del 18 de febrero publicado en la página de Facebook de la escuela. "Ningún estudiante entró en contacto con el hombre y no se percataron de la situación que se estaba produciendo en el exterior. Después de la misa, los niños fueron acompañados de vuelta a clase".

WASHINGTON (OSV News) –Varios grupos extremistas violentos, liderados por menores y jóvenes adultos, se están enfocando cada vez más en los niños en línea, en algunos casos con resultados mortales. Y mientras los funcionarios federales, los expertos en antiterrorismo y los defensores de los niños dan la voz de alarma, los padres deben tomar medidas ante este

"problema creciente", dijo un académico de una universidad católica a OSV News. "Existe una visión ingenua de los peligros que existen actualmente en Internet", afirmó Mary Graw Leary, profesora de Derecho en la Facultad de Derecho Columbus de la Universidad Católica de América. Leary, exfiscal federal y experta en tecnología y victimización, señaló que, a pesar de los esfuerzos continuos por proteger a los niños y jóvenes en el espacio digital, «vemos que las fuerzas del orden emiten cada vez más advertencias», especialmente sobre 764, una red de comunidades en línea vagamente afiliadas que se aprovechan de los jóvenes vulnerables. El grupo los obliga a producir material sexualmente explícito y luego los chantajea para que se hagan daño a sí mismos y a otros, incluso a sus queridas mascotas. Considerada una organización terrorista por Canadá, 764 está siendo objeto de un mayor escrutinio por parte de las autoridades federales y estatales de Estados Unidos. Leary dijo que, si bien los niños y las personas vulnerables han estado a lo largo de la historia en riesgo de sufrir abusos y explotación, grupos como 764 demuestran que "Internet proporciona acceso a grandes grupos de víctimas" para los depredadores. Leary afirmó que Internet y estos subgrupos desviados "proporcionan afinidad y normalización" a los peores comportamientos humanos. "Hay personas que se apoyan mutuamente en sus inclinaciones perversas y violentas de una forma que no habíamos visto antes", dijo. "Estos canales están alimentando esto de una forma que antes no existía".

VATICANO

ROMA (CNS) – El papa León XIV viajará a seis países durante los próximos cuatro meses, incluyendo una gira de diez días por África y viajes a Mónaco y España, según anunció el Vaticano el 25 de febrero. Su primera

13

parada será Mónaco el 28 de marzo, la primera visita papal a ese país en la era moderna. Luego, del 13 al 23 de abril, viajará a Argelia, Camerún, Angola y Guinea Ecuatorial, en lo que será su primera visita a África como papa. El Vaticano dijo que la paz y la atención a los pobres serán los temas clave del viaje. En Argelia, espera visitar lugares relacionados con San Agustín y "continuar la conversación del diálogo, de tender puentes entre el mundo cristiano y el mundo musulmán". Y, en Camerún, entrará en una región marcada por la violencia separatista. En junio, el papa Leo viajará a España, donde se espera que inaugure la torre más alta de la Sagrada Familia de Barcelona y visite las Islas Canarias. Con paradas previstas en Tenerife y Gran Canaria, la visita a las Islas Canarias podría llamar la atención sobre la cuestión de la migración. El archipiélago atlántico, situado frente a la costa noroeste de África, es uno de los principales puntos de entrada a Europa para los migrantes que cruzan desde África.

MUNDO

WASHINGTON (OSV News) –Cuando la invasión a gran escala de Rusia a Ucrania cumple cuatro años, el documental recientemente estrenado "No Priests Left" (No quedan sacerdotes), disponible en YouTube, muestra los estragos de la

agresión a las comunidades católicas de Ucrania. En las regiones ocupadas, las autoridades rusas han expulsado a todo el clero católico. Se han documentado casos de tortura, encarcelamiento y asesinato de clérigos por parte de las fuerzas rusas, y se han dañado o destruido unas 700 casas de culto. El sacerdote greco-católico ucraniano Oleksandr Bohomaz, que aparece en la película, describió la represión de la Iglesia en el este de Ucrania después de que las fuerzas rusas lanzaran una invasión a gran escala de Ucrania el 24 de febrero de 2022. "Los sacerdotes y pastores fueron arrestados. Fueron interrogados. Fueron golpeados. Fueron recluidos en... cámaras de tortura", dijo el padre Bohomaz, que fue deportado por la fuerza de Melitopol, ocupada por Rusia, en diciembre de 2022. "Los sacerdotes y pastores fueron arrestados. Fueron interrogados. Fueron golpeados. Fueron retenidos en... cámaras de tortura", dijo el padre Bohomaz, que fue deportado a la fuerza de Melitopol, ocupada por Rusia, en diciembre de 2022. El arzobispo Borys A. Gudziak, de la Arquidiócesis de Filadelfia, que aparece en la película, declaró a OSV News que "la concienciación, la oración y la acción a nivel mundial, especialmente en Estados Unidos, son fundamentales" para evitar nuevas atrocidades. Animó a "todos los obispos y sacerdotes" a mostrar "No Priests Left" a los fieles. Todos los que vean la película "no pueden sino movilizarse para orar y actuar", afirmó. El arzobispo Gudziak subrayó que era crucial "como seres humanos y como cristianos" que las personas de buena voluntad "vieran lo que ha sucedido, se dieran cuenta de la naturaleza bíblica de esta guerra y hicieran todo lo posible, espiritual, social o políticamente, para ayudar a las víctimas inocentes".

TOME NOTA

Vírgenes, Santos y Días Festivos

Día de San Patricio. 17 de marzo

San José, esposo de la Bienaventurada Virgen María. 19 de marzo

Anunciación del Señor. 25 de marzo

Domingo de Ramos de la pasión del Señor. 29 de marzo

Lunes, Marte, Miércoles y Jueves Santo. 30 de marzo - 2 de abril

Viernes Santo de la Pasión. 3 de abril

Sábado Santo. 4 de abril

Domingo de Pascua de la Resurreción del Señor. 5 de abril

Envíenos sus fotos a editor@jacksondiocese.org

Síganos en Facebook: @DiócesisCatólicadeJackson Únase a lista de correos electrónicos Mande un texto: MSCATHOLIC a 84576

LÍNEA DIRECTA DE PREVENCIÓN DE FRAUDE El Departamento de Asuntos Temporales de la Diócesis de Jackson ha contratado a Lighthouse Services para proporcionar una línea directa anónima de fraude financiero, cumplimiento, ética y recursos humanos. Esta línea directa permite un método adecuado para reportar sucesos relacionados con la administración temporal dentro de parroquias, escuelas y la oficina de cancillería.

www.lighthouse-services.com/ jacksondiocese Hispanohablante USA: 800-216-1288

Beloved Notre Dame coaching legend Lou Holtz remembered

By Eric PEat, today’s catholic

(OSV News) – Leading up to a college football clash between Notre Dame and heated rival Miami in the late 1980s, a team chaplain for the Hurricanes proclaimed that God doesn’t care who wins football games.

Lou Holtz, coach of the Fighting Irish at the time, agreed. “I don’t think God cares who wins, either,” he replied with a smile. “But his Mother does.”

This now-famous quip captured the essence of the legendary coach: an uncanny wit, an unwavering Catholic faith and an unshakable love for Notre Dame – Our Lady’s university. On March 4, Holtz died in Orlando, Florida, at the age of 89, surrounded by his family. Holtz leaves behind not just a decorated football resume but a legacy of shaping young men and inspiring people to live virtuously.

Lou Holtz, a legendary college football coach and devout Catholic who led the University of Notre Dame to the 1988 National Championship, died March 4, 2026, at age 89. He is pictured at Catholic Charities Journey of Hope in Jackson, Miss. in June 2016. (Photo from archives)

Louis Leo Holtz was born on Jan. 6, 1937, in Follansbee, West Virginia, and grew up in East Liverpool, Ohio. He played linebacker at Kent State University before beginning a coaching career that would span over four decades. With head coaching stops at William and Mary, North Carolina State, Arkansas, Minnesota, Notre Dame and South Carolina, Holtz became the ninth-winningest coach in college football history with a record of 249-1327. He received national Coach of the Year honors on three occasions and remains the only coach to lead six separate programs to bowl games.

However, Holtz is best remembered for his 11 seasons in South Bend, where he revitalized the Notre Dame football program. From 1986 through 1996, the Fighting Irish won 100 games, reached a program-record nine consecutive bowl games, and were undefeated national champions in 1988 – Notre Dame’s last national title to date.

After retiring from coaching, Holtz spent time as a studio analyst for ESPN, a best-selling author and

a motivational speaker, where he continued inspiring people with the same energy and charisma.

He often told crowds, “I follow three rules: Do the right thing, do the best you can, and always show people you care.” Holtz preached that “life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you respond to it.” He challenged people to live exceptional lives, famously stating, “I can’t believe that God put us on this earth to be ordinary.”

Central to everything Holtz did was his faith. A lifelong Catholic, Holtz served as an altar boy and credited the education he received from the Sisters of Notre Dame with instilling the desire to make God the focus of his life. Holtz was outspoken about his faith and believed following Church teachings “brings meaning and lasting happiness to life.”

He possessed a deep and profound love for Notre Dame – not just his team, but the university, the students, the fans and the faith alive on campus. “Every single day being there was very special,” Holtz told the National Catholic Register in a 2012 interview, “because there were so many opportunities to encounter and live out the Catholic faith.”

(Eric Peat writes from Fort Wayne, Indiana, for Today’s Catholic, the news outlet of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.)

Under Siege)

NATION

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (OSV News) – St. Mary Parish School in Sacramento averted a possible mass shooting during an Ash Wednesday school liturgy, thanks to the quick intervention of an off-duty law enforcement officer and school parent who detained an armed former student attempting to enter the church. The suspect, 20-year-old Brian Richard Girardot Jr., now faces a federal charge of possessing a firearm within a school zone. School principal Amy Hale credits parent volunteers serving as safety monitors for preventing what could have been a tragedy. The Feb. 18 incident comes some six months after the deadly shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis during a school liturgy. A police search of Girardot’s car and home turned up several more weapons and a profanity-laced suicide note that named three relatives as the reason for his potential attack. “Thanks to the vigilance and professionalism of our parent volunteers, our children remained safely inside the church for the duration of Mass and a potential crisis was averted,” Hale said in a Feb. 18 statement posted to the school’s Facebook page. “No students came into contact with the man, and were unaware of the situation happening outside. After Mass the children were escorted back to class.”

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – A number of violent extremist groups, led by minors and young adults, are increasingly targeting kids online – in some cases, with deadly results. And as federal officials, counterterrorism experts and child advocates sound the alarm, parents need to take action amid the “growing problem,” a scholar at a Catholic university told OSV News. “There is a naive view of the dangers that are currently online,” said Mary Graw Leary, professor of law at the Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America. Leary, a former federal prosecutor and an expert on technology and victimization, said that despite ongoing efforts to protect children and youth in the digital space, “we see law enforcement issuing more and more warnings” – especially about 764, a loosely affiliated network of online communities that prey on vulnerable youth. The group coerces them to produce sexually explicit material, and then blackmailing them to harm themselves as well as others, even beloved family pets. Deemed a terrorist organization by Canada, 764 is gaining increased scrutiny by U.S. federal and state authorities. Leary said that while children and vulnerable persons have throughout

history been at risk of abuse and exploitation, groups such as 764 show that “the internet provides access to large groups of victims” for predators. Leary said the internet and such deviant subgroups “provide affinity and normalization” for the worst of human behavior. “We’ve got people supporting each other’s perverse, violent proclivities in a way that we didn’t see before,” she said. “These channels are fueling this in a way that didn’t exist.”

VATICAN

ROME (CNS) – Pope Leo XIV will travel to six countries over the next four months, including a 10day tour of Africa and trips to Monaco and Spain, the Vatican announced Feb. 25. His first stop will be Monaco on March 28 – the first papal visit there in the modern era. Then, from April 13 to 23, he’ll travel to Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea, marking his first visit to Africa as pope. The Vatican said peace and care for the poor will be key themes of the trip. In Algeria, he hopes to visit sites linked to St. Augustine and to “continue the conversation of dialogue, of building bridges between the Christian world and the Muslim world.” And, in Cameroon, he’ll enter a region scarred by separatist violence. In June, Pope Leo heads to Spain, where he is expected to inaugurate the tallest tower of Barcelona’s Sagrada Família and visit the Canary Islands. With expected stops in Tenerife and Gran Canaria, the Canary Islands visit could draw attention to the migration issue. The Atlantic archipelago, situated off the northwest coast of Africa, is one of Europe’s main entry points for migrants crossing from Africa.

ROME (OSV News) – A Synod on Synodality study group has recommended the creation of a new “Pontifical Commission for Digital Culture and New Technologies” in the first of 15 synod study group reports expected in the coming weeks. The Vatican published the first two final reports from its Synod on Synodality study groups on March 3. The first report contains recommendations on navigating the Church’s presence in digital spaces. The second report focuses on guidelines for the formation of future priests and includes a call for more women to play a role in aiding the forma-

tion of seminarians for the priesthood. The report also lists 26 real world examples of “best practices” from seminaries around the world. Among those highlighted: a program in eight U.S. dioceses focused on healing wounds caused by the excessive use of technology and family breakdown, centered on an eight-day silent retreat and a small-group chastity program; and a Nigerian seminary that requires seminarians to perform all maintenance work and cleaning of their seminary building to “experience the dignity of human labor.” The General Secretariat of the Synod will publish 13 more study group final reports, according to its website.

WORLD

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – As Russia’s fullscale invasion of Ukraine reaches the four-year mark, the recently released documentary “No Priests Left,” available on YouTube, shows the ravages of the aggression on Ukraine’s Catholic communities. In the occupied regions, Russian officials have driven out all Catholic clergy. Torture, imprisonment, and killing of clergy by Russian forces has been documented, with some 700 houses of worship damaged or destroyed. Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest Father Oleksandr Bohomaz, who appears in the film, described the repression of the Church in eastern Ukraine after Russian forces launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. “Priests and pastors were arrested. They were interrogated. They were beaten. They were held in ... torture chambers,” said Father Bohomaz, who was forcibly deported from Russian-occupied Melitopol in December 2022. Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of the Archeparchy of Philadelphia, who appears in the film, told OSV News that “global, particularly American, awareness, prayer and action are crucial” to prevent further atrocities. He encouraged “all bishops and priests” to show “No Priests Left” to the faithful. Everyone who does see the film “cannot but be mobilized to prayer and action,” he said. Archbishop Gudziak stressed that it was crucial “as human beings and as Christians” for people of goodwill “to see what has happened, to realize the biblical nature of this war, and to do everything we can spiritually, socially, or politically to help the innocent victims.”

The Diocese of Jackson has launched a third-party reporting system that will enable all diocesan employees, volunteers and parishioners to anonymously (or named if preferred) make reports. Examples of this activity include fraud, misconduct, safety violations, harassment or substance abuse occurring at a Catholic parish, Catholic school or at the diocesan level. The system is operated by Lighthouse Services.

To make a report visit www.lighthouse-services.com/jacksondiocese or call 888-830-0004 (English) or 800-216-1288 (Spanish).

The Association of Priests of the Dioceses of Jackson and Biloxi provide a small pension to our retired priests. As you consider your estate plans, please remember these faithful servants by making a donation or leaving a bequest to the Association of Priests. Our parish priests dedicate their lives to caring for us, their flocks. Let us now care for them in their retirement. Donations can be made payable to the Association of Priests and can be mailed to: Diocese of Jackson, P.O. Box 22723, Jackson, MS 39225-2723

Sister Thea’s cause heads to Vatican

FROM THE ARCHIVES

By Mary WoodWard

On a beautiful Monday in February, Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz of the Diocese of Jackson sealed the final two boxes of 15 total in the official closing session for the diocesan phase of the cause for beatification and canonization of Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman, FSPA. The closing session capped almost eight years of investigation and documentation into the life of Sr. Thea by theologians, historians and archivists.

In the presence of four brother bishops – Archbishop Mark Rivituso, the metropolitan archbishop of Mobile; Archbishop Thomas Rodi, retired archbishop of Mobile; Bishop Steven Raica, the bishop of Birmingham; and Bishop Robert Baker, retired Birmingham bishop – more than two dozen priests; two classes of elementary school students; and a packed house of joyful friends and admirers of Sister Thea, Bishop Kopacz celebrated a spirit-filled liturgy that transitioned into the closing ceremony filled with canonical protocols, oaths and decrees.

“This moment marks an important milestone in the Church’s careful and prayerful discernment of Sister Thea Bowman’s witness to the Gospel,” Kopacz said in his homily. “Her life continues to inspire faith, hope, and joy, not only within our diocese but throughout the Church in the United States and beyond.”

At the closing ceremony, Bishop Kopacz used red wax discs to seal the final two boxes of the 10 that would be shipped to the Vatican. These 10 boxes wrapped in the characteristic red ribbon adorned the altar and comprised two complete sets of the “acts” to be sent to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints by way of the apostolic nunciature in Washington. Each set contained a complete copy of the 15,000+ pages of transcribed writings, interviews, and decrees all needed to present as evidence of Sister Thea’s reputation of holiness to officials in Rome. One complete set of five boxes will remain permanently sealed in the Diocese of Jackson archive.

The cause postulator, Dr. Emanuele Spedicato, from Rome, myself as diocesan liaison to the cause, and members of the cause’s historical commission tasked with gathering all the documents, speeches, writings and notes of Sister Thea were present to witness the sealing of the boxes along with the cause tribunal who traveled the country to interview many witnesses who knew Sister Thea.

The historical commission – Dr. Cecilia Moore, professor of history and religious studies at the University of Dayton; Dr. Anne Klejment, professor emerita of history at St. Thomas University; Meg Paulino, FSPA archivist; and Sidney Paulson, FSPA associate archivist – worked the entire week before the Mass and closing session to organize all the documents with indices, page numbers, sections and volumes. As mentioned, each set contained 15,000+ pages divided into 47 volumes filling five banker boxes.

Each member of the commission got to seal at least one box of the complete set of 15. This process allowed us to determine exactly how many red wax discs we would need to be melted for Bishop Kopacz to seal the final two boxes at the ceremony. The sealing of first box of the two went very

smoothly using six discs for the center seal on the ribbon knot then five discs for the secondary seal on the ribbon tails.

Then in front of everyone, in what seemed like an eternity, we waited for the second set of discs to melt for application to the second box. The virtue of patience played a major role throughout the entire eight-year journey and fittingly capped off the final moment of that closing session.

Following the ceremony, the boxes returned to my office in the chancery to be carefully packed and shipped to the apostolic nunciature in Washington where they would be placed in diplomatic pouches to ship to Rome. Each sealed box was wrapped in bubble wrap and heavily cushioned with packing materials to prevent the ribbons and seal from breaking during shipment. We even had to find heavy duty shipping boxes that could accommodate 38 lbs. of weight because that was 6 lbs. above the normal capacity for regular shipping boxes.

A few days ago, we received confirmation from the nunciature that the boxes were in route to the Vatican. A special ceremony for officially opening the boxes will be held at the Dicastery in Rome in the presence of

JACKSON – Chancellor and archivist Mary Woodward practices sealing one of the boxes containing documents for the cause of Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman with red wax as cause postulator Dr. Emanuele Spedicato assists prior to the closing ceremony of the diocesan phase of the cause. (Left) A FedEx driver wheels away the carefully packed boxes, each weighing nearly 40 pounds and containing thousands of pages of documentation for the cause of Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman, on their journey to Rome. (Photos from archives)

the postulator and other dicastery officials. This normally happens within a few months of arrival.

The next phase will be the Roman Phase where the acts will be studied by the Dicastery while the postulator writes a large summary of the evidence that ultimately will be presented to the Holy Father. The Pope will determine if the Servant of God may then be declared venerable. The Roman phase may take up to five years.

Now, we wait and we pray. We pray for Sister Thea to intercede for us and our loved ones, especially those in need of miraculous healing. We pray for a miracle, because if a miracle occurs from the countless prayers of intercession offered through Sister Thea, she can jump straight into line for beatification. What a joyous day that will be!

(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson.)

Can

you hear me now?

FROM THE HERMITAGE

By sister alies therese

“Don’t turn a deaf ear when I call to You, God. If all I get from You is deafening silence, I’d be better off in a Black Hole.” (The Message, E. Peterson, Ps 28:1)

And that’s how it is for many of us … there is no answer to prayer, no sense that God is listening. During Lent we have been turning our minds and hearts toward the relationship we have with Jesus so that we might be purified vessels for God to use. How is that working for you? Have you made great progress this year, unlike years before? Maybe not.

Our CCC highlights this issue in Part Four, Christian Prayer. Here are a few key ideas: “Why do we complain of not being heard? (2735 ff) … what motivates our prayer: an instrument to be used or the Father? ... pray to be able to know what He wants? If we enter into the desire of the Spirit, we shall be heard.”

Psalm 28 continues, “I’m letting You know what I need, calling out for help and lifting my arms toward Your inner sanctum. Don’t shove me into the same jail cell with those crooks who are full-time employers of evil. They talk a good line of ‘peace’, then moonlight for the devil.” Oh, ok … I’m letting You know … what arrogance! Deciding what God should do and how He should do it. Maybe it is all ‘about me’? Afterall, it is my prayer. Really, I’m the one who knows who I want to pray for, what I need, and what I think God needs to hear. Does it surprise

you that He might not be listening to that attitude while deciding what He will be gifting you?

We also find this in the CCC (2697 ff): “Prayer is the life of the new heart. It ought to animate us at every moment. But we tend to forget Him who is our life and our all … prayer is a remembrance of God often awakened by the memory of the heart: ‘We must remember God more often than we draw breath’ (St. Gregory Nazianzus).”

Because prayer is a fundamental relationship, the attitude mentioned might be how we relate to other people. Do we actually listen or are we reworking our responses as they talk? Does anger feature in our relationships; is there desire for retaliation in our resentment, bitterness or sadness? The desert Fathers and Mothers (4th century) offer lessons for us. “Abba Evagrius once defined prayer as ‘the seed of gentleness and the absence of anger.’ Further, ‘the opposite is also true. The desire to retaliate could be so deeply imbedded that any attempt at prayer would be futile; to be able to pray again, one would have to deal with the particular source of that anger.’”

You wonder if or when God is listening to you? Consider Abba Zeno: “If a person wants God to hear quickly, ... one must pray with all one’s heart for one’s enemies (Mt 5:44). Through this action God will hear everything you ask.” (The Word in the Desert) Oh, so I need to change my attitude? A new heart? Perhaps one resembling Brother Lawrence (The Practice of the Presence of God, Carmel, Paris, d. 1691): “Ah, did I know my heart loved not God, this very instant I would pluck it out. O loving-kindness so old and still so new, I have been too late loving

Thanks, Dad, for Ordinary Times

ORDINARY TIMES

By lucia a. silecchia

Not long ago, I was sorting through some of my Dad’s old papers and I came across a candy wrapper and a Father’s Day card tucked into an envelope that bore a March 2001 postmark from Rome. As soon as I saw it, it brought back happy memories of a sabbatical I spent living and working in Rome for several spring months.

One of the highlights of my stay was the chance to celebrate the Feast of St. Joseph – Italian style. I have long thought that this strong, silent hero of the New Testament gets far less attention than he deserves.

First, of course, I honored him by indulging in several of the zeppole di San Giuseppe – a pastry made in his honor. I do not know the history of this sweet tradition, but that did not prevent me from following it with enthusiastic respect.

Second, I celebrated at a lively street festival. Although I was living in the shadows of St. Peter’s Basilica, my local parish

was dedicated to St. Joseph. Thus, our festival was particularly exuberant. Talented chalk artists sketched portraits of St. Joseph in the middle of the closed street and crowded sidewalk. A traditional procession of a floral wrapped statue wended its way through the crowd, and the sound of hymns – and joyful noises – filled the evening air. In the windows of bakeries and bars were signs advertising – what else? – zeppole. Falling in the heart of Lent, the Feast of St. Joseph was the justification for a very welcome and high-spirited celebration.

Third, and most personal, was the fact that St. Joseph’s Day is also the day Italians celebrate Father’s Day.

That explained why I sent my Dad a Father’s Day card in March – along with some Italian chocolate he would like. The fact that he saved the card and the evidence of the long-gone chocolate warmed my heart and made me glad I braved a crowded, inefficient Roman post office to send it to him.

I like the link between rejoicing in St. Joseph’s Day and celebrating Father’s Day. Sometimes, like St. Joseph, good fathers also get far less attention than they deserve. Fathers who are careless, absent, or worse, get atten-

You. You young … consecrate all your early years to His love … believe me count as lost each day you have not used in loving God.”

CCC challenges us to this kind of loving (2730) when facing difficulties in prayer: “the battle against the possessive and dominating self requires vigilance, sobriety of heart. When Jesus insists on vigilance, He always relates it to Himself, to His coming on the last day and every day, today. ‘Come,’ my heart says, ‘seek His face.’”

With an attitude as arrogant as we began with, we are not seeking His face, but our will and desires. Fortunately, the psalmist has moved from that attitude to more understanding, rooting his life in thankfulness and joy, “Blessed be God – He heard me praying. He proved He’s on my side; I’ve thrown my lot in with Him. Now I’m jumping for joy, and shouting and singing my thanks to Him. God is all strength for His people .... Save Your people and bless Your heritage. Care for them; carry them like a Good Shepherd.”

As we move toward the Passion and Easter, let us, with Brother Lawrence, beg for enrichment of soul, courage in difficulty, and grateful love. “We have a God who is infinitely gracious and knows all our want … He will come in His own time, and when you least expect it. Hope in Him more than ever; thank Him…” (Br. Lawrence, Third Letter). Can He hear you now? I suspect so!

Blessings. Happy Easter.

(sister alies therese is a canonical hermit who prays and writes.)

tion, while those who live their vocation well are often not noticed quite as much.

So, when March 19 comes around, the Feast of St. Joseph may be a time to be prayerfully grateful for loving dads if we are, or once were, blessed to have them journey with us through life.

St. Joseph was asked to undertake a challenge he did not fully comprehend. Thanks to all dads who face difficult challenges, bearing their struggles with strength, trust and endurance.

St. Joseph housed his family in a stable when that was the best he could find. Thanks to all those struggling dads who ache to give their families more in material comfort while they give them the shelter of great love.

St. Joseph practiced his faith through his life of prayer and following religious traditions with fidelity. Thanks to all those dads who, through their example, give their children the precious bequest of faith.

St. Joseph spoke not a single word recorded in Scripture. Thanks to all those dads who work in quiet ways, putting the good of their families ahead of their own needs and wants.

St. Joseph was a carpenter and made his living with manual labor –his art and trade. Thanks to all those dads who work long hard hours in la-

bor, art or trade to support their families, contribute to their communities, and glorify God through their work.

St. Joseph searched for Jesus when, as a boy, Jesus stayed behind in a temple in Jerusalem after a family pilgrimage. Thanks to all those dads who seek for their own children when they are lost in so many different and heartbreaking ways.

St. Joseph cared for his beloved during the months of her unexpected pregnancy. Thanks to all those dads who care for the mothers of their children as they carry their infants within them, especially when the circumstances are most difficult.

St. Joseph loved and honored Mary. Thanks to all those dads who give their children a priceless gift when they love and honor their mothers.

My own Dad has finished his journey through this life. So, on March 19, I cannot send him a card or candy as I once did. But now, like then, I can still offer him my thanks on St. Joseph’s Day. And, in a particular way, I am thankful that my Dad saved an old card and a candy wrapper. It reminded me to be grateful for ways he walked with me through ordinary times.

(Lucia A. Silecchia is Professor of Law at the Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law. Email her at silecchia@cua.edu.)

JACKSON – St. Richard School students Thomas Morisani, Max Nasif, Anthony Morisani, Jay Leblanc and Ethan Orsborn receive ashes from Father Andrew Bowden during Ash Wednesday Mass at the Father Brian Kaskie Chapel as students and families mark the beginning of Lent. Father Andrew served alongside his father, Deacon Mark Bowden. (Photo by Celeste Saucier)

JACKSON – (Right) Students at Sister Thea Bowman School perform a mime dance during the school’s annual Black History program on Feb. 27. (Photo by Deacon Denzil Lobo)

MADISON – Members of the St. Joseph School dance team pose at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida, during the National UDA Dance Competition in January.

MERIDIAN – First-grader Myles Oswalt watches as St. Patrick School principal Rob Calcote tastes “green eggs and ham” during a classroom activity inspired by the Dr. Seuss classic. (Photo by Helen Reynolds)

Front row, from left, are coach Leslie Ann Harkins, Addyson Russell, a sophomore; Talia Ramos, a senior; Katie Venable, a junior; Cate Anderson, a junior; and Lilli Venable, a freshman. Back row, from left, are Gypsy Macias, a senior; Ollie Cook, a junior; Zaniah Purvis, a senior and captain; M&M Williams, a senior and captain; and Emma Williams, a freshman. The competition marked the squad’s first appearance at the national event. (Photo courtesy of school)

Diocesan students earn National Merit Finalist honors

JACKSON – Two students from Catholic schools in the Diocese of Jackson have been named finalists in the 71st Annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Jack Williams, of St. Joseph Catholic School in Madison, and Elizabeth Bednar of St. Aloysius/Vicksburg Catholic School received the prestigious academic honor, which recognizes high-achieving students nationwide.

The National Merit Scholarship Program, established in 1955, is an annual academic competition for recognition and college undergraduate scholarships. About half of the finalists will earn National Merit Scholarships and the title of Merit Scholar.

SOUTHAVEN – Fourth-graders at Sacred Heart School participate in the “Sacred Heart School Medical Center,” a hands-on activity for their human body systems unit. Students rotate through stations exploring topics such as cells, bones and other body systems. (Photo by Sister Margaret Sue Broker)

MADISON – Charles Dukes, a student at St. Anthony School, completes a portrait of Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman, FSPA following a fourthgrade field trip to the Mass of Thanksgiving and the closing of the diocesan phase of her cause for canonization. (Photo by Kati Loyacono)

Diocese to host “Fam Jam” family concert in Jackson

By Joanna King JACKSON – The Diocese

of Jackson’s Office of Family Ministry will host its first “Fam Jam,” a family-focused evening of music and fellowship, on Saturday, April 11 at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum.

Food sales begin at 4:30 p.m., and the concert starts at 6:30 p.m. in the museum’s Forestry Building, located at 1150 Lakeland Drive in Jackson.

The event will feature Catholic country singer and songwriter Bradley Banning, whose music blends traditional country storytelling with themes of faith and family.

A Texas-born artist, Banning said he shifted his musical focus in recent years to writing songs that reflect his Catholic faith and values

while remaining true to the country style he grew up loving. His performances often combine music with personal testimony about faith, family and life.

“My goal was to provide a family-friendly event where Catholics from parishes all over our diocese come together for fun and fellowship,” said Debbie Tubertini, coordinator for the Office of Family Ministry.

Registration is required for the event, which has limited seating. The cost is $10 per person, with a maximum of $40 per family.

For more information contact the Office of Family Ministry at (601) 960-8487 or email debbie.tubertini@jacksondiocese.org.