It is very wonderful being with all of you here today 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 in Mississippi, in the deep South, where it is already hot and humid. When you receive a visit from a missionary, you probably expect a missionary who is working overseas. However, I am from a missionary Diocese in our own country. Our Diocese has the lowest percentage of Catholics of any Diocese in the US, about 3%. Most of our 90 parishes are small and located in rural areas, far different from the reality here in Los Angeles.
Our Gospel today builds upon last Sunday’s Gospel, in which Jesus spoke about a mustard seed that seems small and ordinary, but which has the potential to grow into a huge plant. Our faith is like that; if we accept the small kernel of faith from God, even though it may seem small and insignificant when it starts out, it can grow and grow. Today, however, the disciples give into their fears and do not remember these teaching about them, as they fear the great storm that is overwhelming their boat. We all face storms in life, but we can still sow seeds of faith in the midst of those storms.
In the Diocese of Jackson, we try to bring the Catholic faith to others and sow those seed of faith in different ways. The Catholic schools in our Diocese bring a Catholic education to both Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Our inter-cultural ministry efforts bring our Catholic faith to the many Hispanics and African Americans who are in our Diocese. We have small parishes scatter in the rural areas of the state, helping them to continue to grow the Catholic faith amongst the people of Mississippi.
You probably do not detect a strong Southern accent in my voice. That is because I am not originally from Mississippi. I am actually originally from Chicago. However, you meet note a little bit of Southern California in my accent as well. My family moved here to Southern California when I was a teenager and I live down in Santa Ana in Orange County. I still have family in the area, so it is nice to come back here to the Los Angeles area this weekend. I am currently 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 serving as the vicar general of the Diocese for the past five years.
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 most of my priesthood. I go out to the federal prison in Yazoo City, which has about 6,000 inmates, and the Mississippi state prison just outside of Jackson, with about 3,500 inmates. For many years, we struggle 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, or sometimes in the fire station at the prison. About a year 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. If you have read any John Girsham novels, you have read descriptions about prisons in Mississippi, and unfortunately the reality is close to the terrible reputation they have. If you can believe, most of the inmates live in housing units that have no air conditioning at all. Unbelievable. Yet, our ministry has changed so many lives out there. We sometimes have more than 200 inmates attending Mass during any given week. We have had more than 20 men enter the Church this year. I have inmates themselves as the leaders of our Catholic community at the prison, even Eucharistic ministers. They try to bring others to the faith. You can tell I am very passionate about the prison ministry. It is amazing to see God at work in this mission environment.
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 has said that we as a Church should never lose our missionary identity. We always need to be a Church who goes out into the world and invites others to our faith. Pope Francis calls all of us to be missionary in spirit, for all Catholics to be a part of the universal mission effort of the Church. And I think 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 prison ministry, our rural parishes, and our rural schools. I want to thank you for any help you are able to give. Also, I am 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.
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