Gulf Pine Catholic

Gulf Pine Catholic • January 5, 2024 7 228-539-9800 www.RiemannFamily.com Gulfport Pass Christian West Jackson County Biloxi Long Beach Hancock County Bishop Kihneman’s Column From page 3 “Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ So Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” So they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.’” (John 6: 31-35). A question I had to ask myself is do I really believe that? Hopefully, my answer continues to be yes. Amen. It is Jesus giving Himself to us. In a very real way, that enables us to enter into the third prayer, which is Unitive Prayer . As we say the words of Consecration, as we pray those prayers asking Jesus to change the bread and wine into His Body and Blood, it is a call to unity. It is a call to oneness with Him at a level that is heavenly. It is really meant to be a gift. He has given each of us the call, the gift and the desire to celebrate His love and to pray the prayers of Consecration. The unity that He is seeking with us is the kind of unity and the kind of oneness that not only brings heaven and earth together but it is the kind of openness that enables us to truly be changed into Him. As we receive His Body and Blood, it is a moment for us to share in His gift of life and His gift of heaven for us and for our people. It is a moment in which we are truly one as the Body of Christ in the Mass and in the Eucharist, especially as we distrib- ute His Body and Blood to our people. That prayer -- the Body of Christ -- is a call to unity, the kind of oneness that enables us to have the grace we need, the love we need to witness to Him every day no matter what is going on in our lives. That is what we take from the Church. That is what we take away each time we cele- brate the Mass. “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.’” That is us coming to the Eucharist, the Mass. That is us here today in adoration. That is us hearing the invitation to pray in a purgative way, in an illuminative way and in a unitive way. Let us pray for these graces each time we prepare to receive Jesus in His love and in the Eucharist. SEE BISHOP’S COLUMN IN SPANISH, PAGE 4 Columna del Obispo Kihneman en Español De la página 3 “Yo soy el pan de vida; el que a mí viene, nunca tendrá hambre, y el que cree en mí, nunca tendrá sed”. Esos somos nosotros viniendo a la Eucaristía, la Misa. Esos somos nosotros aquí hoy en adoración. Esos somos nosotros escuchando la invitación a orar de manera purgativa, de manera iluminativa y de manera unitiva. Oremos por estas gracias cada vez que nos prepare- mos para recibir a Jesús en Su amor y en la Eucaristía. Pope encourages persecuted Christians to stay strong in their witness BY CINDY WOODEN VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- On the feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, Pope Francis prayed for people persecuted for their faith or denigrated for living a life marked by Gospel values. “I am close to the Christian communities that suffer discrimination, and I ask them to persevere in charity toward all, peacefully struggling for justice and reli- gious liberty,” the pope said Dec. 26 after reciting the Angelus prayer with visitors in St. Peter’s Square. Pope Francis also entrusted to St. Stephen’s inter- cession all the people in the world “tormented by war.” The news, he said, “shows us what war produces. We’ve seen Syria, look at Gaza, think of the tormented Ukraine -- a desert of death. Is this what people want?” “People want peace,” he said. “Let’s pray for peace, let’s struggle for peace.” In his main address, focused on the feast of St. Stephen, Pope Francis noted how the Acts of the Apostles lists Saul, the future St. Paul, as being present at St. Stephen’s stoning. “Through Stephen’s witness, the Lord is already preparing in Saul’s heart, unbeknownst to him, the con- version that will lead him to be the great Apostle Paul,” the pope said. “Stephen, his service, his prayer and the faith he proclaims, his courage and especially his forgiveness at the point of death, are not in vain,” Pope Francis said. “It has been said in times of persecution, and it is true today, that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christians, and it’s right to say that.” In addition to those who die for their faith, the pope praised the example of people who are penalized or even just made fun of for “acting in a way consistent with the Gospel” and striving to be faithful. Just as in St. Stephen’s time, he said, their sacrifices bear fruit “because God, through them, continues to work miracles, changing hearts and saving men and women.” Pope Francis asked people in the square to pray for persecuted Christians and to consider in their own lives how they bear witness to the Gospel. He also asked them not to leave St. Peter’s Square without stopping to look at the Nativity scene, noting the look of awe and adoration on the faces of the stat- ues. “Let us be in awe at the birth of Jesus,” he said, encouraging people to allow that wonder to become adoration.