It is very wonderful being with all of you here this weekend to celebrate Mass around the table of the Lord. My name is Father Lincoln Dall. I come to you as a brother in Christ from the Diocese of Jackson (Mississippi) in the deep South. When your parish receives a mission visit each summer, you probably expect a missionary serving in a faraway land overseas. However, I am from designated missionary territory in our own country. Our Diocese has the lowest percentage of Catholics of any Diocese in the US, about 3%. However, we have the largest Diocese geographically east of the Mississippi River. Many of our 73 parishes and 15 mission churches are small and located in rural areas. We do not have any large cities in Mississippi, so our parishes are spread out throughout sparsely populated rural areas. Some counties in Mississippi only have one parish. Some do not even have that.
As I am hear with you for my mission visit this weekend, I think of the themes in our readings today. Jeremiah describes the real-life struggle he has on his journey as a prophet from God. He feels mocked by the people and overwhelmed with his vocation, but still, God’s message is like a fire burning in his heart, a message he must deliver to the people. In his letter to the Romans, St Paul urges us as believers to not conform to the ways of the world, but to transform ourselves into living, holy sacrifices to God. At times, we can all feel overwhelmed on our journey of faith and in trying to live out our life of discipleship in the modern world. We can feel the pressures of the modern world calling out to us, making it challenging to live a life of holiness. In Mississippi, with a lot of misconceptions about Catholicism, it can be quite a challenge to forge a path as a practicing Catholic. In the dynamic and creative ways we try to approach ministry in our Diocese, I feel that our Catholic presence has an influence far beyond our small percentage of the population.
In wanting to share some specific ministry stories with all of you, I thought of the prison ministry in our Diocese, something that is very dear to my own heart. I have been involved in prison ministry for 18 years. I go out to the federal prison in Yazoo City, which has about 6,000 inmates, and the Central Mississippi state prison just outside of Jackson, with about 3,500 inmates. For many years, we struggled to even get access to see the inmates. Often, at the state prison, I would have mass at the foyer of the building where the inmates lived, sometimes in the fire station of the prison, or even on a picnic bench outside the prison cafeteria. Several years ago, we got access to have Mass in the chapel and have been able to go out every week, which has made a huge difference. You can imagine the terrible living conditions we have in the prisons in Mississippi. There is a lot of gang activity, violence, and drug use. Most of the inmates live in housing units that have no air conditioning. Unbelievable. Yet, our ministry has transformed the lives of many inmates. We usually have about 150 inmates attending Mass during any given week. We 8 men enter the Church this year. For the last two years, we have been operating a garden project as a part of our ministry, where were have garden areas around the prison where the prisoners grow vegetables, herbs, and flowers. It has been a huge success. We try to tie the gardening to our Catholic spirituality. A lot of the produce goes to the prison cafeteria, and in certain raised garden, the inmates get to keep the produce for themselves. I am very passionate about the prison ministry. It is amazing to see God at work in this mission environment of the prisons.
As you are hearing my homily today, you probably do not detect a strong Southern accent. That is because I am not originally from Mississippi. I am originally from Chicago. I currently serve as the pastor of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Raymond, MS and Holy Savior Catholic Church in Clinton, MS, two towns just outside the city of Jackson. I have also been working in the chancery office for 8 years, currently serving as vicar general of the Diocese.
I am here as a priest from the missionary Diocese of Jackson to share some of our stories with you as a part of our Church’s larger missionary effort. Pope Francis always said that we as a Church should never lose our missionary identity, that we are to be a Church who goes forth into the world and invites others to our faith. All of us are called to be missionary in spirit, to be a part of the universal mission effort of the Church. Most importantly, in a world torn apart by divisions and conflict, we must recognize each other as our brothers and sisters in Christ. When we see ourselves as missionary in spirit, when we encounter our neighbor and invite him into our faith, it will open up so many possibility for us as well on our own journey and to see the Gospel in a new wonderful light.
I am so grateful to be here with all of you this weekend. To celebrate around the altar of the Lord. Your parish is going to have a second collection to help us with the missionary needs of our Diocese, to help our different ministries, our rural parishes, and our rural schools. I want to thank you for any help you are able to give. Also, I ask for your prayers for our Diocese of Jackson. And be assured that I will keep all of you and your parish in my prayers as well.
