In our Gospel readings these past couple of Sundays, we’ve heard how Jesus and his disciples are trying to get away for some rest, but the crowds keep following them. Wherever they go, Jesus and his disciples have captured the imagination and attention of the crowds. Jesus knows that the people are hungry for many things. He realizes that this goes beyond physical hunger, that feeding their physical appetite will not only satisfy one level of hunger, but it will be a sign that he will be able to feed their other types of hunger as well. With the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish in today’s Gospel, J and the disciples feed the hungry crowds. The crowds eat as much as they want until they are satisfied, with many baskets of food left over. Through this miracle, the crowds recognize Jesus as the true prophet of God who has come into their midst.
As we hear about the crowds who came to Jesus, who hungered for his word and his ministry, I come to you today as a priest from a missionary diocese in our country, the Diocese of Jackson, in the state of Mississippi. When you hear a mission appeal, you probably think of someone talking about the missions in a far away country, but this mission appeal today comes from right here in the United States. You probably picture Mississippi as being in the heart of the Bible belt in the Deep South - this is definitely true. The Diocese of Jackson is very large geographically. It takes up most of the state, all except the area along the MS Gulf Coast. We are the largest Diocese geographically east of Mississippi River. However, our Diocese has lowest % of Catholics in any Diocese in the US: 2.3%. There were priests in our area during the time of the Spanish conquistadors, up until the time the territory of Mississippi was formed prior to it becoming a state. Our Diocese was established in 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI. Currently we have around 90 parishes and missions, but most are rather small, reflecting the rural nature of our state. Most counties in our Diocese only have only one parish; some don’t have even one parish.
I’ve been a Diocesan priest for 13 yrs. My first assignment as pastor was in the communities of Yazoo City and Belzoni in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, the cotton growing region along the Mississippi River. and the region of one of the highest levels of poverty in our country. While stationed in the Delta, I served as the priest in 3 parishes an 2 prisons. The territory I served in these two counties in the Delta encompassed about 1,400 sq miles. Now, keep in mind that all of Orange county, which is an entire diocese in itself, is about 950 square miles. However, the population was only about 37,000 people in these two counties combined. I had a 30 minute drive between two of these parishes. While serving there, one of those counties, Humpheys county, had the highest child poverty rate and lowest median family income of any county in the US. For the past 4 years, I have been serving as the pastor of St Jude in Pearl, a working class parish in a very rural county, although not far from the city of Jackson. For the past two years, I have also served as the Vicar General of the Diocese.
From my accent, you can probable detect that I am not from Mississippi originally. Hopefully, you can detect a little bit of California accent as well. I was born in Chicago, but when I was 12 yrs old, my family moved to Santa Ana in Orange County with my family. I came into the Catholic Church as a young adult through the RCIA program at St Norbert in the city of Orange. As a young adult, as I served as a lay missionary in Canada and Ecuador. That brought me to Diocese of Jackson and the state of Mississippi .
I recall how five years ago, in summer of 2016, I was staying with family friends out of town, trying to rest and recuperate from a bout of pneumonia. I received a text from a good friend back in Mississippi, telling me that CNN had just reported that two religious sisters who worked in my Diocese had been killed. Sister Margaret Held of the School Sisters of St Francis from Milwaukee WI & Sr Paula Merrill of Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, KY, had run a medical clinic in Holmes County in central MS, one of the poorest counties in US. Over 1/3 of the residents in rural Holmes county received medical care from their clinic. They were very beloved members of our Diocese and of the community where they served; all of us were so shocked that they had been murdered by someone who had been suffering from mental illness. Going to their memorial service at the Cathedral in Jackson the next week with all my fellow priests was a very emotional experience. I thought of these two wonderful religious sisters and their witness of faith to the community as I was preparing for my mission, as they represent the missionary spirit of our Diocese, of bringing the Gospel and love of Christ to the people of Mississippi.
I want to thank all of you for the opportunity to share with you our experiences in the Diocese of Jackson. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ and it is important for us to be in solidarity together in proclaiming God’s kingdom here on earth. Collection. Thank you for your prayers and your support.
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