It is 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 (Mississippi) in the deep South. When your parish receives a mission visit, you probably expect a missionary serving in a faraway. However, we have missionary territory 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. We don’t have any large cities in Mississippi, so our parishes are spread out throughout sparsely populated rural areas.
This weekend, we celebrate the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. Peter and Paul had very different backgrounds and they responded very differently to their call from God. Peter was a fisherman who entered Jesus’ first group of apostles, while Paul, a privileged member of the Pharisees, became a disciple after Jesus’ death. We can see moments in the Gospels when both these man showed extraordinary faith, such as Peter’s recognition of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, at a time when most in Ancient Israel still had not figured Jesus out. However, there are times when these men show weakness or doubt. On the eve of his passion, as Jesus was leaving the last supper with his apostles, Peter tells Jesus that he will never have his faith in him shaken. Yet, Peter will deny Jesus three times before the rooster crows. Peter and Paul were able to put aside their differences to serve in ministry and leadership together, to build up God’s Kingdom in the Early Church and to bring converts to the faith. They both greatly influenced the faith that we practice today. They both lived and died courageously for the faith. We honor them both at Mass today.
You probably do not detect a strong Southern accent in me. That is because I am not originally from Mississippi. I am originally from Chicago. My family also lived in Santa Ana in Orange County when I was a teenager, so I have ties to Southern California. I currently serve as the pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Raymond, MS and Holy Savior 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 six years.
I want to share some specific ministry stories with all of you from our Diocese. I thought of the prison ministry in our Diocese, something that is 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 state prison just outside of Jackson, with about 3,500 inmates. For many years, we struggled to 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 at the prison, or even on a picnic bench outside the prison cafeteria. A couple of years ago, we got access to have Mass in the chapel and have been able to go out every week, which has made a big difference. You can imagine what terrible living conditions they have in the prisons in Mississippi. If you can believe, 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 sometimes have more than 200 inmates attending Mass during any given week. We had more than a dozen men enter the Church this year. I have inmates serving as the leaders of our Catholic community at the prison, even ten inmates who serve as Eucharistic ministers. They are witnesses of our Catholic faith to the other inmates. The past year, I have had farmers from my parish going out teaching the inmates garden skills. We have several acres fields that we have planted. They are proud to grow their own vegetables to make their own salads and herbs to make herbal tea. I am very passionate about the prison ministry. It is amazing to see God at work in this mission environment of the prisons.
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 the Church should never lose our missionary identity. We need to be a Church that 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 this universal missionary 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 grateful to be at your parish 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 rural schools. I am thankful 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.
